Keep Holding On
by Prongsie18
Summary: Daryl Dixon/OC
1. Chapter 1

Atlanta; such a bright city and so full of life. Well at least that's how it uses to be, before the world was shot to hell and the dead began walking. Who would have thought that a zombie apocalypse would actually happen? People would joke around about it, make movies, but to think it actually would happen was beyond anyone.

The city was overrun by the living dead,; it was not a safe place, ambushes were pretty common when the living entered the dead's domain. The hordes attacked when they found fresh meat; it was disgusting, revolting, and more than dangerous for one bite and you'd become one them, dead on your feet. Not many people made it out of Atlanta or even in for that matter; except one family where Atlanta was called home even now that the dead have risen, the Morrisons.

Jamie, Angela, and Layla were left on their own. Their parents died when the outbreak happened that began the zombie apocalypse. Jamie was the eldest, he was the one to protect his little sisters. Angela was the middle child, she's the one who usually comes up with the plans to get supplies and to safely get past the freaks. Layla was the youngest at only ten, she didn't contribute much to the group, (besides coming up with the nickname freaks for the zombies) but she was alive that's all that mattered to Jamie and Angela. They still had their baby sister, which was enough for them. They lost their parents to the virus, they couldn't bare to lose her too, besides, they promised to keep her safe.

Angela was the one who took their parents loss the hardest. She couldn't get the event out of her head. She remembered it like it was yesterday.

Angela had gone to school that morning just like any other day. Sitting in class while the professor rambled on about economics, she could care less about this class, could care less about college in general. She was only there to please her family, everyone saw the best in her thought she could achieve great things in school and become very successful. She didn't see much going for her in life, she wasn't really talented, she had common sense, but wasn't book smart, so what was there for her?

A blood curdling scream erupted from someone in the hall. Angela's professor stopped speaking and stared at the closes door, before everyone rushed tote door. The halls were in a panic; people running around wildly and screaming. Something was wrong, terribly wrong; some people were bleeding.

One girl sat crying across the hall from the classroom, someone sat beside her trying to get information or comfort her, being extremely careful of the girl's shoulder that was bleeding. Angela thought it looked like something took a bite out of her; she was right.

"He bit me, I don't even know who it was, but he bit me." Was all she said and with that the students from Angela's class scattered; Angela grabbed her things as quickly as she could with trembling hands, and made a beeline for the door and into the hallway. She paused for a moment, hearing a gurgling sound she turned to her right to see a man shuffling in her direction.

Blood covered his chin and clothes, he looked like the zombies you would see in movies. Angela stared at the man as he continent his way toward her with his arms outstretched, swiping at the air as if he could reach her from where he was. 'This has to be a joke' was all Angela could think, but her thought was shot down when an unfortunate soul ran out of the stairwell and right in front of the man. The person didn't have a chance to run before the man grabbed him and bit the person's neck, tearing the skin away and blood going everywhere. Angela's stomach churned, it was so disgusting and she felt sick, but most of all she felt fear. Her body shook as she watched the creature that looked like a man tore into the person, but she couldn't bring herself to run, her feet remained planted. What was going on?

Suddenly Angela was pulled away from the sight, a gasp escaped her lips and she went to push the person away only to see Jamie. She had forgotten he was here taking classes like she was. He had a hold of her shoulders, leading her out of the building as quickly as he could. Angela allowed him to lead her and happened to glance behind them, she saw the girl from earlier, her face gaunt and lifeless, she was gone.

The two siblings made it out of the school and to Jamie's truck where he helped Angela into the passenger seat before climbing into the drivers side and started the car. They left the school premises, heading home before Jamie spoke.

"You're not hurt are you?" He asked tensely, Angela didn't answer right away making him snap. "Angela!"

"What, n-no I'm not hurt. Jamie, what's going on?" Angela asked terror evident in her voice as she looked to her older brother for answers he didn't have.

"I don't know, people are going insane. They're eating other humans." Jamie said, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Angie, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I think the zombie apocalypse is actually happening." Angela let out a breathy laugh at that, a grim smile on her lips.

"Normally I'd say you've gone mad, but I saw a man eat another person just now. He ripped out his throat with his teeth, and a girl that got bit, bled to death not far from me and as we were leaving she was walking down the halls. A zombie apocalypse seems like the only reasonable explanation." She said her voice surprisingly steady for how afraid she was.

"I talked to mom briefly she said to come home, but to be careful. There are apparently a lot of people like that around the house, and dad is trying to fight them off."

"If anyone can protect the house it's daddy. He knows how to handle a gun and knife, he's tough I'm sure he'll hold his own and keep mom and Layla safe. Besides Samantha will do anything to protect Layla, that dog is the most overprotective dog I've ever seen."

"You're right, Sam will keep Layla safe and dad will keep the flesh eating creeps away from all three of them."

They were wrong though, about part of it anyways. Jamie had grabbed a shovel that was left in the front yard and cleared a path through the zombies to the house. Once in the house, Angela pulled their dad's gun from it's hiding place without Jamie noticing and hid it on her person.

They found Layla in a corner in her room; Samantha, the Morrison's loyal border collie, was by Layla's side. Next they found their parents in the master bedroom. Their father had his back to them heading towards the bathroom; he was stumbling and they could hear a gurgling sound, much like the man Angela saw at the college.

"Daddy!" Layla exclaimed from between her siblings. He stopped abruptly, then slowly turned around to face the three kids and family pet. Samantha let out a low growl at him and letting the kids know something was wrong with him, but they didn't need to hear the growl to know it. It was visible on his person, his clothes were covered in blood, his mouth looked odd and had a large gash in his cheek. The worst part was his eyes, they were grey, cloudy, and completely void of life.

"No." Angela breathed upon seeing her father, but she couldn't help but wonder where her mother was and called out her name next. Their mother emerged from the bathroom and her eyes landed on her children and her husband's lifeless body stumbling towards them.

"Jackson!" She screamed at her husband, who faltered for a moment, not at hearing his name per say, but just at hearing a soiling behind him. He turned towards the sound and began heading towards Kira, who just stared at her husband. "I want the three of you to run!" She yelled glancing at her children as tears fell down her cheeks. "Get to Atlanta they're saying its the safest place to go. Get out of here now!" She yelled as he husband continued towards her.

"Mommy!" Laya screamed running into the room. Jackson's walking corpse stopped its pursuit once again and changed its target, now heading for little Layla.

"No!" Kira screamed wrapping her arms around her husband's body just before her could grab Layla. She wasn't strong enough to hold him still though and he turned in her arms and bit her. This gave Jamie time to run in, scooping Layla into his arms and out the door of the bed room. Angela didn't leave though. Instead she pulled the loaded gun out and aimed it at the body that she used to call her father.

When her mother fell to the ground, Angela got the attention of her father and when he began to turn, she pulled the trigger. Her aim was perfect, right through the head, just like she planned. Watching her father fall to the ground, Angela could feel her heart breaking and tears clouded her vision as she fell to the floor by her dying mother.

"Mama." She said as tears flowed down her face and she took her mothers hand in her own. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, he was already dead, I saw him die outside." Her mother gasped. "He was shot by another person, through the heart and then a few moments after he died, he got up. I saw this happen to a few people. Angie the dead are rising and walking, I want you to go with your siblings to Atlanta. Get out of here, you understand."

Kira was having troubles speaking now, she was bleeding out, but instead of growing cold like normal, she was running a fever. Angela figured it was part if the infection when being bit, part of the change. She couldn't find the words to speak though, so she nodded her head to answer her mother's question.

"And promise me you will keep your sister safe. She's only a child in a world that's falling apart right at the seems." Her eyes where hazing over, and Angela knew she would soon be gone. Sobs shook her frame as she looked at her mother, taking I her dying wish.

"I promise mama. I'll do everything in my power to keep her safe."

"I know you will, Angie. I love you sweetie, and I'm so proud of you." Kira said barely above a whisper. "There's one more thing I want you to do."

"I love you too mama, what do you want me to do?" Angela asked sniffling and wiping her nose.

"Shoot me." Angela froze, shooting her dad was one thing, he was dead an attacking, but her mother wasn't dead, not yet anyways.

"What?" Her eyes were wide as she stares at her mother.

"Shoot me, I don't want to come back a monster. Angie, please don't let me become what your father did, I don't want to be part of the living dead." Angela nodded leaning down to kiss her mother's head before standing, aiming the gun at her mother, who closed her eyes with a small smile on her face, and pulled the trigger.


	2. Chapter 2

"Angie." Jamie's voice brought Angela back to reality. She had been thinking back to the day the world changed and she had to kill to of the most important people in her life. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm good." She responded putting her attention on the map in front of her. "So were running a bit low on supplies and need to make a run." She started trying to plot out a good route for them to take.

"The only thing is, we've cleared out every store around us. We're gunna have to go further into the city which isn't a good idea, it's too dangerous." Jamie said

"We don't have much of a choice, we need supplies otherwise we won't survive."

"Angie, the risk has increased since the last time we went out. When I checked our surroundings this morning to make sure we were safe, I noticed that more freaks have entered the city."

"James there's always more freaks coming into the city. Everyday there's more risk and I don't feel any sort of safety here anymore." She glanced over at Layla who was curled up with Samantha asleep. "I promised mom I'd keep her safe, I hate to say this, but I think we need to move on."

"We've stayed here for a long time, do you really think leaving is such a great idea?" Jamie wasn't sure about his sister's plan, but if she thought it best, he'd follow it. Her plans always did turn out better than his, she could come up with a plan easily and it would work. As where if he came up with one there would most likely be complications, something was always bound to happen.

"I really do think it would be best. We make this run and then hightail it out of the city and find a new refuge." Angie said looking at the map planning the run.

"Alright, then it's set, we'll leave as soon as we can once this run is over."

Angie crouched by the corner of the building; the store they were heading to was right in front of her, right across the street. There weren't many freaks around them, only four that were visible, but they filled the city and Angela knew that could change in a matter of seconds.

Angela ran the plan through her head once again and glanced around the corner and down the street catching Jamie's eye. They gave each other a curt nod and Angela gripped her machete tighter, before making her way towards the store.

The freak closest to where she was hiding took notice of her, but before it could do anything Angela sunk her knife into its skull with a sickening thud. Removing her machete from the freak's head, she made quick work of the others as well. Checking her surroundings, everything looked clear and she motioned for Jamie to come out of hiding.

They entered the store quickly, grabbing what they needed. The store had been hit already, but there was plenty left. Angela was surprised they got what they needed so easily and quickly, but they did and began making their way back to their camp in a hotel where Layla was locked safely in a room with Samantha.

They hated leaving her, but they couldn't risk having her out on the streets. Keeping her locked in the room was their only other option. Angela was relived when she saw the hotel come into view, but that didn't last for long.

Growls and grunts, all the noises the stupid zombies make, reached their ears causing the siblings to turn around. There was horde of zombies coming towards them, they were a ways down the road, but it didn't matter, they needed to move and now.

Angela and Jamie locked eyes for just a second before sprinting down the road. They stopped momentarily at their car; Angela throwing her bag of supplies to Jamie and running upstairs while he threw the bags in the car. Angela dashed up the stairs, taking out the lone zombie that managed to stumble its way into the hotel, and to the room. Once inside she grabbed everything as fast as she could shoving them into bags.

"Layla help me pack now. We've gotta get out of here sweetie." She said trying not to let the fear she felt overcome her. Layla did as told and soon Jamie came and helped finish up and they were at the car. The zombies had gotten a lot closer, if they had taken any longer to pack they wouldn't have made it.

They did manage it though, Jamie was driving like a mad man, but it got them away. Unfortunately, the car barley had gas when they left and it finally ran out.

"Damn." Jamie muttered under his breath as the car slowly rolled to a stop.

"It was bound to happen, sooner or later. We didn't get a chance to siphon gas before the attack happened. The important thing is we're away from those freaks." Angela reasoned looking back at a half asleep Layla.

"I guess you're right." Jamie said getting out of the car and looking around. They had just made it to the outskirts of the city. Angela followed suit and opened the back door of the car so Samantha could climb out if she wanted to.

"Where to now?" Angela asked sitting on the hood of the car.

"No idea." Jamie began before a small voice rang out.

"Are we safe from the freaks now?" Angela asked hugging her toy cat tightly to her with one hand while the other stroked Samantha's fur.

"I think so, sweetie." Angela said smiling at her little sister who happily sent one back.


	3. Chapter 3

The map was press out on the hood of the car, as Jamie and Angela tried to create a plan on where to go. Layla was running around the field beside the car, throwing a stick for Samantha, the two enjoying their game of catch. Everything looked so peaceful as Angela watched her sister, but peaceful sure doesn't last long during a zombie apocalypse.

Angela noticed people walking up the hill, heading towards where Layla was playing, only they weren't living.

"Shit." Angela muttered her language grabbing Jamie's attention as he quickly turned from looking at her to Layla while Angela grabbed a gun. "Layla get over here now!" Angela shouted at her sister who noticed the threat and ran as fast as her legs could take her.

"What do we do?" Jamie asked watching the freaks approach them rather quickly, gaining on poor little Layla.

"Car doesn't have any gas so diving's not an option, we can't outrun them, so there's no other choice but fight." Angela said pulling out her machete and running to her sister who had a walker on her tail. "Get away from my sister!" She shouted slicing through the zombie's head.

"Angela!" Layla cried scared to death as she clung to Samantha who stayed loyally beside her, growling at the oncoming freaks.

"Layla get back to the car and hide in the back with Samantha, while Jamie and I take care of the freaks." Angela ordered stabbing a zombie in the head, blood splattering on her clothes and face. Layla did as told and took Samantha back to the car, while Jamie and Angela fought off the herd as best they could.

There weren't as many freaks like when they were escaping the city, this was a different group that either heard the car or just happened to be stumbling by. Either way there was little hope at surviving, but the eldest Morrison's were determined to protect their sister.

Jamie sunk his knife into the eye of another freak watching as it fell and was replaced shortly by another. Taking that one down fairly easily as well. The numbers weren't as large anymore, slowly dwindling down to none, but they were able to keep the freaks in front of them and away from the car, or so they thought.

A terrified scream pierced the air, and the siblings took a moment after killing two other zombies to look back at the car that had freaks banging on the side.

"Dammit, Layla!" Angela screamed turning to cut the head off another zombie.

"You go save her, I'll take care of these guys!" Jamie shouted to his sister. She nodded, sinking one last zombie, before rushing to the car. She took down the freaks banging on the window and noticed one stumbling around the car. She cut its head clean off, then stabbed the thing in its brain. That's when she noticed the door.

The car door was open and looking inside, Angela found it to be empty. Layla was missing; did one of those things get her, did she just get scared and ran for it? Angela shook her head, willing the tears to leave her as she took in her surroundings.

"Layla!" She shouted looking towards the woods not far from her. "Samantha!" Nothing; no running to her, no yells. Angela turned and began to head back to Jamie, only to see three walkers left. There was one behind him, and Angela ran as fast as she could towards it, but it was too late. The zombie grabbed Jamie from behind and took a bite out of his neck. Jamie's screams of pain echoed around them as Angela killed the zombie responsible and they finished the rest off.

Holding his neck, Jamie walked back to the car. Tears mixing with the blood on his face. Angela's tears finally escaped her eyes and cascaded down her face as she tried to get Jamie to stop walking and sit down.

"Is she alright Angie?" He murmured eyes locked on the back window of the car.

"Jamie, please sit down you're hurt please." She pleaded tugging lightly on his arm her bravado fading. Jamie turned to her, dropping his knife on the ground and grabbing her shoulders.

"Angela, sitting's not going to help me. I've been bit, just like dad, just like mom, jut like most of those freaks out there. There's no helping me, I'm going to turn and I don't want that to happen, before I die though, I want to know if I'm dying because I saved our little sister."

"I don't know Jamie. She's gone-"

"They got her?!" Jamie interrupted becoming pale from blood loss and his temperature began to rise from being infected by the bite.

"No, I-I don't think so. I looked in the car, but I didn't see any blood, so I think she ran. Jamie please sit down." They had begun walking again and were at the car now. Finally Jamie listened to her and sat down, leaning against the car.

"Samantha gone too?" Jamie asked softly, and Angela nodded in response as tears continued to flow down her face and sobs began to shake her body as realization hit her hard. Jamie pulled her to him, wrapping his sister in a hug.

"They're both gone." Angela finally whispered.

"She's alive Angie, don't give up hope, don't ever give up hope. Mom trusted you to take care of Layla and that's what you're going to do." Jamie said in sort of a rush, but Angela heard every word sitting up to look at her brother. "Samantha's with her, just like always, all you have to do is find her. I know you can; since the world went to hell, every plan has worked out for you. You kept us safe in Atlanta, dad's survival skill he taught us as kids stayed with you and you've been able to use them to your advantage. You have to find her and I know you will." He wiped the tears from his sister's face. "Now get packed, take what you need to survive and leave the rest, don't over pack yourself."

"What about you?" Angela asked holding his hand tightly.

"I'll be okay for a few minutes while you pack, but you gotta shoot me before you leave, I don't want to become one and that was our deal remember?"

"Right, I'll get packed." She said giving his hand a squeeze before looking through everything and getting what she needed. Just as Angela was about to close the back, after getting everything she need, her eyes landed on the bow her father cherished. It once belonged to her grandfather and before he passed away, long before the apocalypse, he gave it to her father. She couldn't leave it here, she would learn to use it well when she could and it would come in handy; so she grabbed it and the quiver of arrows slinging them onto her back then looking shortly at the bow, admiring it before going back to Jamie.

"I'm done, I'm ready." Angela said as tears sprung to her eyes again at the helpless sight of her older brother, the guy she looked up to for so long.

"Good, be careful Angie, and find our baby sister."

"I will be."

"Don't stay in one place for to long, keep moving. Don't use you're gun unless you have to." Jamie was listing off things to remember, coughing every so often, and he soon ran out of ideas. "Guess this is it then." Angela dropped to her knees and hugged him.

"I'll find her Jamie, I just wish you could come too."

"Yeah so do I. I love you Angela, I know you'll find her."

" I love you too Jamie." Angela began to cry again knowing what she had to do. Jamie pushed her back so he could see her face.

"Don't cry sis, be strong, for me, for Layla. Okay?"

"Yeah, I'll try my best."

"You need to go, Layla is probably a good ways away from you so you need to hurry." Jamie said beginning to shake.

"Right, I love you Jamie."

"Love you too sis, tell the princess that I love her too when you find her, give her a hug for me."

"I will." Angela responded fumbling with her gun.

"You know what you have to do Angie." Jamie said, a few tears falling down his face as he closed his eyes. "Bye sis, stay safe." Angela pointed the gun at his head, wondering why it always came down to this, her shooting her own family.

"I will be, goodbye James."

The shot rang out, and Angela didn't waste anytime, moving out as fast as she could without looking back at the lifeless body of her brother.


	4. Chapter 4

"Layla! Samantha!" No answer. Angela didn't know how long she had been looking for her little sister, but since she left the car where her brother's body lay; night had fallen. She continued going, until she couldn't stay awake any longer. Climbing up into a tree low enough to the ground the fall wouldn't kill her, but high enough to be safe from walkers, Angela tied herself to the branch she sat on with a rope she packed and fell asleep for a while.

She woke just before the sun, hoping she only slept a few hours rather than all day. Checking her surroundings, Angela climbed down the tree and headed back to the highway she left behind to sleep. She took a step onto the pavement when a sound made her jump, scaring her half to death. There was an explosion in Atlanta.

"Hope no one was caught in that explosion unless they were a zombie." She said then remembered she was alone as she began making her way down the road away from the city. "Great now I'm talking to myself, thanks a lot freaks! You've taken my family from me, and now I've lost it!" She screamed, hating what the world has become.

Angela took a deep breath trying to calm herself, before adjusting the straps of her bag and quiver and continuing down the road. Not moments later did she run into a few freaks walking along the road in front of her. It was more than she could handle on her own, so she made her way towards the forest next to the highway trying not to be noticed, unfortunately she was.

She weaved through the trees quickly, before clambering up a tree. The zombies had been hot on her trail even though she had put some distance between herself and the freaks. She heard them before they began to gather at the trunk of her tree.

"Well, time for some practice." She mumbled while pulling out her bow and nocking an arrow, releasing it into one of the bodies below. It hit the zombie she was aiming for, only she missed its head and landed in its shoulder. This happened a few times and finally she had a better aim, though not amazing and narrowed it down to one freak. She reached for another arrow but her hand closed around air; she was out.

"Doesn't look like I have many options left so." Angela said checking around her before jumping down from her tree, machete in hand, and drove the knife in the thing's head. She watched as the corpse fell to the ground, before she retrieved her arrows, and started to walk away. That's when she heard it; a sound she didn't think she'd hear in a long time; the sound of a car.

She ran back to the highway as fast as her feet would carry her, only to reach the highway and watch the the taillights of several cars driving away.

'There was about two or three cars, there must be more survivors than I thought. Why am I worrying about that, there's no way I'd catch up.' Angela thought then looked up at the sky. 'Still pretty early, maybe early afternoon, I should keep walking while I have light.'

And walk she did, although not long before she heard the moans of zombies behind her. She grabbed an arrow, nocking it in place and spinning around, then dropping her aim out of surprise. A horde, bigger than the one she saw back in Atlanta came stumbling her way. They hadn't noticed her yet so Angela made for the trees and walked ways into the woods, then continued the way she had been heading.

After a while of walking, she began to lose light; the day was ending. The forest had been fairly clear through her walk, though no sign if Layla and Samantha, it was a rather nice walk. That was until she heard a branch snap off to her left. Angela grabbed an arrow, put it in place, and turned towards the noise while pulling back on her bow, only to come face to face with a loaded crossbow.


	5. Chapter 5

"You're alive." Angela stated softly, her aim faltering for just a moment. She was a bit shocked and sort of thankful that she ran into survivors, even if this guy was aiming a crossbow at her head.

"What was that?" He asked his voice rough and demanding. Angela didn't respond. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"I'm just another survivor like yourself." Angela answered before an idea came to mind giving her a rush of hope and she lowered her bow. "Hey, you haven't by chance run into a little girl have you?"

"What's it to you, if I have or not?" He asked his guard not wavering, as his eyes watched Angela's every move.

"She's my sister, she ran off a day or two ago, she's only ten." Angela said her voice cracking a bit at the end. Before the man could respond, leaves rumbled behind him as another survivor appeared.

"What's your sister's name?" The new guy asked; he was wearing a sheriff outfit.

"Layla, she probably had a dog named Samantha with her, a border collie that's overly protective of her." Angela said; as she said Layla's name, she could have sworn that a flash of recognition went through the men's eyes.

"What's your name?" The man with the crossbow asked.

"Angela."

"Morrison?" His crossbow still remained aimed at her, but he was no longer focusing so hard on his shot.

"H-how did you know that?" Even if they had seen Layla she didn't expect them to know her last name, or her name at all for that matter. The man finally lowered his aim away from Angela's head.

"'Cause we've seen your little sister." He said looking around at their surroundings. The other man, the officer, put his gun in its holster before walking towards Angela with an outstretched hand.

"I'm Rick, Rick Grimes." Angela shook his hand, but she could only think of her sister.

"Is my sister okay, is she alive?"

"Yeah she's fine." The man with the crossbow answered.

"You seem to have all the answers about my sister, what's your name?"

"Daryl." He wasn't going to continue, until he realized Angela was waiting for a last name. "Daryl Dixon."

"Look, we can tell you about your sister later," Rick jumped in. "We're actually looking for someone ourselves."

"Yeah, a little girl named Sophia; she's not much older than your sister. You seen her?" Daryl said.

"I haven't seen anything but freaks, but I'll help y'all anyway I can to find her."

"Thank you." Rick said sincerely while Daryl just gave a curt nod, if Angela had blinked she would have missed it.

"Rick, her trail went this way." Daryl said looking at the ground. Rick and Angela went to stand by Daryl, looking down where he pointed, and sure enough there were tracks.

Rick began to lead the way with Daryl following him, and Angela bringing up the rear. She listened to her surroundings, but she kept her eyes on Daryl; there was just something about him that she couldn't figure out. He seemed like the kind that wouldn't care about anyone but himself, yet here he was trying to find a little girl and he kept answering her questions about Layla, when he could have let Rick. What was up with this guy?

There was shuffling suddenly up ahead and the three survivors crouched down; it was one of the living dead. Daryl seemed to forget Angela was there as he gave Rick silent instructions on how they were going to take the zombie down.

They acted quickly; Rick running to where he would be noticed by the creature, while Daryl crept up behind it, and Angela followed behind Daryl. The freak saw Rick, making a strange sort of scream at finding fresh meat, but before it could take a step it fell to the ground with an arrow through its head.

The three walked over to the fallen zombie, where Rick who had donned a pair of gloves began to look at the creature's hands.

"What are you lookin' for?" Daryl's southern accent broke the silence.

"There's skin under its nails." Rick said grimly, turning the corpse over and examining its teeth. "There's skin stuck in its teeth."

"What kind of skin?" Daryl asked, crouching down beside Rick, putting his own gloves on.

"Only one way to find out." Rick stated ripping the thing's shirt open and pulling out his knife.

"Here let me do it." Daryl said standing over the body and pulling out his knife.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Angela mumbled placing a hand over her mouth. She didn't get sick easily, but this just seemed morally wrong to her.

"What, never skinned and gutted an animal before?" Daryl asked teasingly, but with a tone of disgust as well.

"An animal, yes!" Angela exclaimed to be hushed by Rick, she lowered her voice some as she continued. "This is different, it's not an animal; this used to be a person, just like the three of us. He just wasn't as lucky."

"World's not the same anymore girl. It might as well be an animal now, acts a bit like one." Daryl said leaving no room for arguments as he drove his knife into the stomach and began to cut it open.

The sight was gruesome, not as bad as watching one of them eat a living thing of course, but still gruesome. Once Daryl finished cutting through the skin he began looking for the stomach.

"Had itself a pretty big meal recently, I can feel it." Daryl said as he pulled the stomach out of the corpse and dropped it in front of Rick who decided to cut it open.

Angela leaned forward some to get a better look, now getting over her disgust; she lost her balance and quickly placed a hand on Daryl's shoulder to catch herself. He sent her a look that caused her to regain her balance quickly, muttering a soft apology in the process and they both looked back towards Rick, who had the stomach cut open. Daryl took his knife and stuck it in the stomach, pulling out a skull.

"Had himself a woodchuck for lunch." He said throwing the skull aside and standing up, ready to leave.

"At least we know." Rick said looking away from the body in front of him and catching Angela's sorrowful expression while hearing Daryl repeat his sentence.

"Are you alright?" Rick asked Angela quietly while the trio headed back to the group.

"Yeah, I fine." Angela said.

"I noticed your expression after what we did to the walker, you looked pretty shaken."

"I'm fine, and it wasn't about cutting the walker, is that what you called it?" Rick nodded. "It wasn't cutting it opened that bothered me, it was the fact y'all were cutting it open to see if it ate a little girl. I guess what really bothers me is that sometimes I just can't stand the way the world has changed. We're afraid because we might be eaten by the living dead, just sounds like something from the movies."

"Yeah I guess it does." Rick said with a lifeless laugh.

"I know what y'all must be going through, not knowing where this girl is. I always feared that I'd never find my sister, that one of the freaks ate her."

"They almost did." Daryl said entering the conversation. "She was runnin' round the outskirts of Atlanta being chased by a couple of walkers. When she saw our cars she began screamin' for help and I just happened to look and notice her. Stopped my truck and took out one of the geeks, that mutt of hers managed to take down the other b'fore it caught her and I finished it. She wasn't bit or scratched so I took her with us, kept her safe."

Angela didn't get time to respond, because the highway came into view and people started to gather at the side. Rick and Daryl went up to the others and began explaining the situation, while she stayed back unsure of how these people would react to her arrival. She saw the lady she assumed was The missing girl's mother begin to breakdown and heard her ask about the blood, along with Daryl muttering about cutting the 'son of a bitch open' and then she heard the familiar voice.

"Daryl, you're back!" She said running to him. "Did you find Sophia?" Her voice was sad, but she was alive and that's all Angela could think of as tears blurred her vision and she began taking slow steps towards the group.

"Who's that?" A blond woman asked nodding toward Angela and all eyes were on her, and that's when she saw Layla, with Samantha sitting loyally beside her as usual.

"Angela!" Layla screamed running to her sister, Samantha right on her heels, barking like crazy.

"Oh my God, Layla!" Angela cried dropping to her knees as Layla ran into her arms. She couldn't find the words to describe how happy she was, she only kept muttering 'oh my God' as she held her little sister tightly to her. Layla was the first to pull away, taking Angela's hand in hers as she began to pull her towards the others.

"How did you find us?" Layla asked

"Ran into Rick and Daryl in the woods while looking for you and they brought me here." Angela said as tears still fell down her face, she noticed the woman that had been upset earlier, stormed off into the RV that sat on the road, she was definitely the mother.

"They're good people, especially Daryl, he saved me." Layla said looking up at Daryl who had a small smirk on his face at her words, but it vanished quickly.

"So I heard."

"Well you gotta meet everyone else." Layla said stopping between Rick and Daryl.

"Yeah, we do need to introduce you." Rick said placing a hand on Angela's shoulder. "Everyone this is Angela, Layla's older sister. She's offered to help us look for Sophia. I'm sure y'all will introduce yourselves later to her, so I need to talk about the search. We're going to search further tomorrow, Daryl knows the woods so I've asked him to oversee it. Now get some rest, we leave as soon as we have light." Rick said before turning to Angela as a woman and child came to his side. "Angela this is my wife Lori and my son Carl."

"Nice to meet y'all." Angela said shaking their hands.

"Nice to meet you too, I'm happy you two found each other again." Lori said referring to Angela finding Layla.

"Thank you. I should be thanking your husband and Daryl though, they didn't have to bring me to y'all's group; I mean I could have just been a scavenger."

"We figured one person wouldn't be able to take the whole group, besides you seemed nice enough and Layla told us a great deal about you." Rick said placing a hand on Layla's head ruffling her hair.

"Are you really going to help us look for Sophia?" Carl asked hope filling his voice.

"Yeah, it's the least I can do since y'all saved and took care of my sister."

"Thank you, Sophia means a lot to the group, we're all worried about her." Carl said and Angela put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Carl; I'm sure we'll find her."

"Alright, time for bed Carl. Good meeting you Angela." Lori said walking away with her son.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Rick said before following his family as an older gentleman came up along with a black man.

"Hi Angela, I'm Dale and this is T-Dog." The older man said.

"T-dog?" Angela asked

"Theodore Douglas actually, but I prefer T-dog."

"Okay, T-Dog it is, nice to meet y'all." Angela said with a smile.

"Your sister's been staying in my RV; you're welcome to sleep there as well. Not much room, but it's safer than outside." Dale offered, Angela immediately liked him, he was kind even living in the hell they were.

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that." Angela said then caught a glimpse of T-Dog's arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I cut my arm on a car, thought I was going to die because if my own stupid mistake." T-Dog said looking at his arm.

"I'm sorry, glad you're okay."

"Thanks." T-Dog said as him and Dale left and the blond from earlier came over along with a man.

"Shane Walsh." He said extending his hand which Angela shook. "What makes you want to look for a girl you don't even know?"

"Y'all took care of my sister, it's the least I can do. Besides the thought of a girl no older than my sister out there alone and scared bothers me, so I want to help."

"Sounds pretty dumb to me. Putting your life on the line for someone you haven't even met." Shane said walking off.

"Don't mind him, he's harmless." The blond said. "I'm Andrea."

"Angela, nice to meet ya."

"I think it's sweet what you're doing, helping us out." Andrea began then thinking about what Shane said. "Okay Shane may be a little right about it being stupid since you don't know her, but it's still a kind offer, and we need all the help we can get."

"I'm happy to help, and nothing's gonna stop me from doing so."

"Thank you, see you in the RV." Andrea said walking off. That's when Angela noticed the Asian guy by the car.

"You seem like the quiet type." Angela stated making him blush and babble. "Chill, I'm only joking. You got a name?"

"Uh, Glen."

"Nice to meet you Glen, you seem like a nice guy." Angela said with a smile while Layla went to sit on the RV steps.

"I've barley said two words to you."

"Yeah, but I can tell. Where are you from?"

"Michigan, but before that, my family was from Korea."

"Sweet, I'm just from Georgia, born and raised here. Well I'm going to head in, see ya later Glen."

"See ya."

Angela and Layla went inside the RV and curled up together on the couch. Angela was introduced to Carol, who she was right about being the missing girl's mother, but other than learning her name they didn't speak much.

Angela looked down at Layla who was fast asleep one last time before wrapping her arms around her and falling into a light sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello my lovely readers! I'm so sorry for not keeping up with this story well. I'm going to try and post a chapter a day until I'm caught up. You see, this story has about 21 chapters already written and is on another site, and I wanted it on here as well. I hope y'all are enjoying this story so far and thank you to all who have favorited, read, and reviewed. I really love feedback, so let me know what you think. ~Barbara :)**

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Day broke out; the first light shining through the windows of the RV right into Angela's face where she lay curled up with her sister. Sitting up and stretching, Angela could feel how stiff her muscles were from another restless night. No one really managed to get some sleep, well except for Layla. She somehow managed to sleep peacefully next to Angela on the couch.

Angela on the other hand kept waking at the smallest sounds, most coming from Daryl who couldn't sleep, wanting to get back out there to find Sophia more than anything.

"We're all going to need to have a weapon while out there." Rick said once everyone was up and gathered outside the RV. Shane rolled out a case of various blades for everyone to choose from.

"These aren't the type of weapons we need. What about the guns." Andrea stated Angela found that she was annoyed that Dale had taken her gun from her.

"Thought we had already talked about that." Shane said. "Rick, Daryl and I are the only ones carrying guns."

"Angela has her bow."

"A bow is silent, a gun attracts walkers. Don't you know anythin'?" Daryl said walking away.

"I gave my gun up as well Andrea, you're not alone in this, but it's best you don't complain." Angela said ready for the arguing to stop so they could find Sophia.

"What do you know, you just got here!" Andrea practically shouted.

"I know that there's a twelve year old girl lost in the woods right now and every second we spend arguing about guns, is precious time we could be using in finding her." Angela retorted, shutting Andrea up, who just stared at her for a moment before walking over to the RV and began talking to Dale. Angela took a deep breath and headed toward her sister who was standing by Daryl.

"Ain't half bad there girl, know what you're talkin' 'bout anyways." Daryl said rather quietly so no one, but her would hear.

"Thanks Daryl, I think." Angela said crouching down in front of Layla. "Hey sweet girl."

"Hi Angie." Layla said looking at Samantha and scratching the dog's head, rather than looking at Angela.

"Somethin' up?" Angela said, her country accent becoming more noticeable with her concern.

"Jamie didn't make it did he?" Layla asked, tears filling her eyes.

"No princess, he didn't, but he told me that I'd find you and that he loved you." Angela said wiping a tear from Layla's face.

"Do you think we're going to find Sophia?"

"Of course I do." Angel said wiping Layla's face again.

"A'right, we need to leave." Daryl said from Angela's side.

"Alright Layla, stay where Dale and T-Dog can see you, 'kay?" Angela said. Layla nodded and Angela pulled her into a tight hug. "I'll be back." And with that she followed Daryl and the others into the woods.

Everyone walked in a line, staying as quiet as possible and listening out for anything and everything. Angela was following behind Rick, Shane, and Daryl who were leading the group, she had an arrow set just in case she needed it and her machete was strapped to her hip, ready to be pulled out if a walker came to close.

After walking why seemed like miles, the group came across a tent. Ordering everyone to stop; Rick, Daryl and Shane approached it quietly. Daryl took out his knife and ventured closer, trying to look inside before crouching at the entrance and slowly unzipping the tent. Rick called Carol over, who bumped past Angela to get to Rick. Carol called out for Sophia, but there was no answer, so Daryl went in after a few minutes he came back out.

"Jus' a man in there who opted out, ain't that what Jenner called it?" He said grabbing his crossbow he had left beside the tent. Carol was close to crying again, but the sound of bells caught her attention and she was able to stifle her sobs to listen.

Everyone was on the edge now following Rick and Shane out of the woods towards the sound of the bells. Once they broke through the trees, the small church was in view.

"It ain't the right church Rick. There's no steeple!" Shane yelled but no one listened, running as fast as they could to the doors of the church.

Slamming open the doors, the group noticed a few walkers that lingered in the building looking as if they were there with a purpose, before rising from the pews they sat in and coming towards the group.

Rick and Shane went to the ones in the center of the church, while Daryl switched Glen the blade for the crossbow heading towards the side. Angela put away her bow, shoving past Glen to follow Daryl down the right side if the church, stopping at a pew with a walker in it. The thing looked at her and began reaching out for her; thoughts of the day the outbreak happened filled Angela's head. The man in the hallway at her college, her dad taking a bite out of her mother, then the one that bit Jamie, and having to shoot her family; it didn't sit well with Angela, she was sad about losing them, but anger also filled her at the virus or whatever caused this.

Daryl had sliced through the face of the walker, backing up as it fell dead to the floor before turning to look at Angela. The walker was close to her now, and she just stood there with tears falling down her face as she glared at it. He acted quickly and went to her side to shove her out of the way, but his fingers only brushed her arm as she brought her machete through the thing's head.

She watched as it fell, before hitting it a few more times with her blade, and stood up. Her body shook from the emotions she felt; sadness, anger, and fear. She just stared at the creature that lay at her feet with grim satisfaction, but quickly tore her eyes away from it when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Daryl looked her, and for the first time she took in how he looked; he had beautiful eyes, he was about a head taller than herself and strong, and even with blood and dirt covering his body, he was handsome.

They just stood there for a moment, staring at each other. Then the bells echoed through the building; Daryl pushed Angela to the side enough so he could slip past her and flew out the doors, and following the sound to the side of the church. The bells were on an automatic timer that Glen put an end to, and everyone's hope fled; Sophia wasn't there.

"I'm gunna go back in for a minute." Carol said walking back into the church, and the group dispersed. Angela stood still for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts, before heading back into the church. She began to go to one pew, but saw the dead walker, the one she killed, and retreaded to the other side and sat down and taking a shaky breath.

"You a'right?" She heard Daryl ask quietly from beside her.

"Fine." She muttered.

"Wha' happened with that walker?"

"Don't know what you mean."

"You froze, an' b'gan cryin'." Daryl said a bit irritated at her. He wasn't one to show he cared, but when it came to Angela he did, and it confused him.

He cared about Layla and Sophia, they were just kids though, didn't mean much if he cared for them, but this was Angela, some girl he just met and he was caring for her. Maybe it was just because of Layla, he cared about the kid and knows losing her sister again would kill her, so maybe that's why he cared; at least that's what he hoped.

"Just, stuff ran through my head. It's nothing important." She said not sure what to say where she didn't sound weak and useless. She didn't look at him either; she couldn't and just chose to stare at the cross at the front of the room.

"Whatever." Daryl said ending their conversation and Glen plopped down beside Angela.

"You believe?" He asked noticing her staring at the cross.

"My parents did, and Layla does. Jamie did too for the most part, but me; I don't know what I believe anymore. I mean I used to when I was younger, but as I got older I lost where I stood in my faith, and now I'm just not sure." Angela said looking at Glen. "I mean, why would he let this happen? Let a little girl get lost, let us live in a world where zombies are real, just doesn't seem right to me."

"Yeah it does suck, doesn't it?" Glen said putting an arm around Angela's shoulders.

"Yeah, it does. I'm so thankful my sister's not lost anymore though." She whispered hoping that Carol wouldn't hear.

Everyone began to leave the church to gather outside. Angela hugged Glen when they stood, thanking him for being there for her without prying for answers. Carol walked by her, the look on Carol's face had been one she received since she joined the group, only worse and Angela knew she had heard her.

Rick split the group up; him, Shane and Carl were going to continue searching while Daryl led everyone else back to the cars.

The amount everyone walked was surprising; no one realized they had covered as much ground as they did and eventually they had to stop. Commotion broke out as usual, but Lori put an end to it.

"Look you want my gun here take it. I'm tired of the looks you're giving me." She began holding the pistol Daryl gave her when she wouldn't take Rick's, toward Andrea. After Andrea wearily took it from her, she turned on Carol. "Look sweetie, I don't know what you're going through, and if I could stop it I would, but you've got to stop blaming Rick. I don't think any of us would have done what he did, or could have done it any differently, but I can see the blame in your eyes every time you look at him, and as for Angela, you need to stop looking at her with hate in your eyes. She can't help the fact that she was able to find her sister while Sophia went missing, Angela's doing everything she can to help find your daughter, so you have no reason to be mad at her."

Lori didn't know what else to say, so with a sip of her water she threw her backpack on her shoulders and stood up. Andrea handed the gun back and they began to walk past Daryl, who was watching out for everyone. Angela went to pass by him and their eyes met as a gunshot rang through the trees.


	7. Chapter 7

**As promised here is a new chapter. :) Will continue trying to get a new chapter up each day until I'm caught up with what I've posted on the other writing website. **

**To Daily Sinner: Thanks, glad I could make you happy. lol There will be more caring feelings later on in the story I promise. **

**Thanks to everyone who has read, favorite, followed, and reviewed it means a lot to me to know people are reading my writings and hopefully enjoying. Let me know what y'all think.**

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The shot startled everyone, and worried Lori to death.

"Why would they only fire one shot?"

"Walker?"

"Nah, Rick wouldn' waste a bullet on jus' one walker." Daryl said trying to calm everyone down.

"I'm sure they're fine." Angela chimed in, placing a hand on Lori's shoulder. "We should just continue our search then head back to the highway like Rick told us to, right Daryl?" Angela said looking away from Lori's worried expression with hope Daryl would back her up.

"Yeah, nothin' to worry 'bout. Rick can handle it." Daryl said beginning to lead the way again, trying to put some distance between himself and Angela. He didn't know what it was about her; he didn't care about her, he couldn't, but he wanted to back her up, had felt the need to protect her at the church, there was just something about her.

"Sorry for what you're going through." Andrea said stopping the group again.

"I suppose you do, thank you." Carol replied looking at everyone else. "The thought of her, out here by herself. It's the not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying she doesn't wind up like Amy." She continued before realizing what she said. "Oh God, that's the worst thing I've ever said." Andrea shook her head, trying to brush off the comment.

"We're all hoping and praying with you for what it's worth." Andrea said

"I'll tell you what it's worth." Daryl said joining their conversation. "Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time all this hopin' and prayin', 'cause I'm gonna locate that little girl, and she's gonna be jus' fine." He paused for a moment just looking between Andrea and Carol before beginning to back away. "Am I the only one with Zen around here? Good Lord."

The group began to walk again, in hopes of finding Sophia before heading back to camp; Angela walked up beside Glen. "Who's Amy?" She asked quietly

"Andrea's sister." Glen answered quietly looking behind him to see if Andrea was listening. "She got bit by a walker a while back, Andrea had to shoot her."

"Oh, I know how she feels." Angela said, but didn't explain even when Glen stared at her to continue.

"We're gonna lose light soon, I think we should call it." Daryl said

"Yeah, I think we should head back." Lori agreed

"We'll pick up again tomorrow?" Carol asked

"Yeah." Lori answered and Daryl whistled signaling for the group to head back.

Angela's legs were screaming in pain as they walked back to the highway. Lori had asked how much further they had to walk after a while.

"'Bout hundred yards or so, as the crow flies." Daryl said.

"The hell does that mean?" Angela mumbled looking at Daryl, there was something about him that she just couldn't place and all throughout their walk she kept stealing glances at him.

"Too bad we're not crows." Andrea said glancing at Angela who let out a short breathy laugh beside her.

"Be so much easier if we were." Angela replied, sharing another laugh with Andrea before they went silent.

Angela looked around at the group of people she was with; they were all so different yet they worked well together, and accepted her so easily into the group. Maybe there was some good left in the world.

Angela walked over to Glen, like she had earlier; he was easily one of her favorite people in this group. They smiled slightly at each other, but said nothing, until an ear splitting scream rang out.

"Andrea?!" Several said in unison.

Angela ran in the direction the screams came from with her machete drawn, not bothering to see what everyone else was doing. She spotted Andrea on the ground kicking at the walker above her, trying desperately to keep it away from her, but before Angela could get to her, someone else did. A girl on a horse hit the walker with a baseball bat, knocking it to the ground away from Andrea.

"Lori Grimes?" She asked her county accent urgent, as she tried to calm her horse.

"I'm Lori." The worry and confusion was evident on Lori's face as she cautiously walked closer to the girl on the horse.

"Rick sent me, there's been an accident, Carl's been shot."

"What?"

"There's no time to explain, you have to come on. Rick needs you."

Lori wasted no time taking the backpack off her shoulders, dropping it to the ground and heading towards the horse.

"You can't go with this girl!" Daryl shouted at Lori and startling Angela, she didn't realize how close he was to her. "We don't know her!" Lori didn't listen and climbed up behind the girl.

"Rick said y'all had a group, parked up on the highway?"

"Yeah." Glen said staring at the girl.

"Go back to Fairburn road and to the farm a few miles down, the mailbox reads 'Greene'" she said before riding off. The walker that was attacking Andrea moments ago finally sat up letting out a strange noise when it realized food was still here.

"Shut up." Daryl said sending an arrow through its head. Angela let out a sigh before looking at Andrea and helping her up.

"Andrea are you okay?" Angela asked only receiving a nod as the group continued walking.

"They're back." Dale said to T-Dog when Angela and the others emerged from the woods. "Where are Rick and his family, and Shane?" Dale asked as they approached.

"Rick sent a girl to come get Lori, she said Carl was shot." Glen said

"Shot what do you mean shot?" Dale said shocked.

"I don't know Dale, I wasn't there."

"And you let Lori just go with her?" Dale asked now looking at Daryl.

"Rick sen' her." Daryl said walking past Dale, Angela close behind heading towards her sister and wrapping her in her arms.

"I heard screams, was that you?" Dale said looking at Andrea.

"She got attacked by a walker, it was a close call." Glen answered.

"Andrea are you alright?" Dale asked concerned. Andrea just looked back at him before heading into the RV.

"We need to go find this place." Glen said after a few minutes passed; Andrea had decided to join the group outside again.

"I won't do it, we can't just leave." Carol said

"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale said trying to reason.

"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen." Carol said sounding desperate.

"If Sophia found her way back and we weren't here, that would be awful." Andrea said.

"Okay we gotta plan for this." Daryl began. "I say tomorrow morning's soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold up here with the RV."

"If the RV is staying then so am I." Dale said.

"I'll stay too." Angela joined in.

"Thank you, all of you." Carol said. Angela sent her a small smile hugging Layla close.

"I'm in." Andrea said.

"We'll if you all are staying then so am I." Glen said

"Not you Glen, you're going. Take Carol's Cherokee." Dale ordered

"Why is it always me?" Glen asked sadly.

"You've got to find this place, reconnect with our group and find out what's going on. Most importantly, you've got to get T-Dog there. This is not an option, that cut has gone from bad to worse and he has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm and see if they have any antibiotics otherwise he will die." Dale explained while Daryl walked to his motorcycle.

"Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle." Daryl said throwing a rag at Dale before walking to a car and placing a bag down.

"Daryl Dixon, goes from nice to a douche in seconds." Angela muttered

"What'd you say 'bout me?!" Daryl hollered

"Nothin'" Angela said casually walking to stand beside him at the car.

"Anyways, I've got my brother's stash; crystal." Daryl said going through the bottles. "Some kick ass pain killers." He continued tossing the bottle to Glen, then handing Dale a bottle. "Merle got the clap on occasion." Daryl said walking back to his bike.

"Sounds like a cheery fellow, this Merle." Angela commented quietly.

"You got a problem with me?" Daryl asked.

"Didn't say anything about you." Angela sneered.

"But you said somethin' 'bout my brother!" Daryl said storming over to Angela, and got in her face. "You don' know nothin' 'bout Merle, so you best keep your mouth shut."

"Come on Daryl, back off." Glen said coming to Angela's aid.

"I did you a favor and saved your little sister, now do me one an' don' ever talk 'bout Merle 'gain." Daryl said before walking off.

"Angela, are you okay?" Glen asked

"Fine, y'all need to head out before it gets too dark." Angela said


	8. Chapter 8

"Angela, can I go with Glen and T-Dog?" Layla asked hesitantly as they were about to leave.

"Layla, sweetie, I don't know about that." Angela said; she had just gotten her sister back, being away from her for a few hours while searching was one thing, but this was different.

"Please Angie, I wanna be there for Carl, and I wanna make sure T-Dog's alright. Layla begged; she always seemed to care too much.

"It's alright if she comes." Glen stated shyly. "I mean, I understand if you don't want her to, but I know she won't be any trouble and I'll keep a close eye on her."

"Alright, you can go, but you do everything Glen tells you too okay?" Angela said, bringing her into a hug before allowing her and Samantha to get in the car with Glen and T-Dog as they drove off to find the Greene farm.

"She'll be okay." Dale said placing a hand on Angela's shoulder while she watched the car go down the road. "You know, you could have gone with them."

"No, I told Carol I'd stay and that's what I'm gonna do." Angela said heading into the RV, but stopped as the door opened and Daryl brushed past her.

"Thanks Dale." She called over her shoulder trying to ignore the fact that Daryl being mad at her upset her. She had just met the man, why would she care if he hated her or not. Sure, her big mouth was what caused it, but she shouldn't be so bothered by it. Why was Daryl different than any other guy?

The question lingered throughout the night. Sleep was pointless; not only because Daryl plagued her mind, but because of the fact that Sophia was lost, Carol was failing to stifle her cries, and Andrea was trying to fix her gun.

Angela looked up at Daryl as he stood and grabbed his crossbow and asking Andrea for his clip, placing it in his gun.

"I'm gonna walk the road, look for the girl." He said before heading out the door, Andrea following. Angela grabbed her things while she heard Daryl spoke to Dale and rushed out the door.

"Daryl, Andrea wait." Angela said catching up to them.

"What?" Daryl asked rudely, proving he was still mad at her.

"I'm coming too." Angela stated firmly so he couldn't argue.

"Whatever, but if you get lost it's not my problem." He said walking down the road.

"Trust me I won't, besides I can find my way back if I do."

Glen had finally found the mailbox with the name Greene on it and pulled up in front of the gate.

"Looks like this is it." He said hoping out to open the gate before going back to the car, then doing the same to close it. They drove silently up to the house, parked and got out of the car. Glen opened the back door to see Layla asleep in the backseat.

"Layla, you've got to get up, we're here." He said gently shaking her. Her eyes fluttered open and sitting up she looked at him.

"Is it safe?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

"Seems like it, come on." He said taking her hand in his and they walked to the porch with T-Dog. "So do we ring the bell?"

"I think we're past this kinda stuff, courtesy and all." T-Dog said walking up the steps.

"Y'all close the gate?" A voice called out.

"Uh yeah, we did." Glen said before rambling on once he noticed it was the girl from earlier.

"Look we're here to help out." T-Dog said ending Glen's mindless babbling.

"Is Carl okay?" Layla asked leaning into Glen's side, shying away from the new person.

"My dad's doing all he can to help him. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Layla, I'm a friend of Carl's."

"It's nice to meet you Layla, my name's Maggie." She said holding out her hand and Layla shook it quickly before pulling away. "Whose is she?" Maggie asked next, looking back at T-Dog and Glen.

"She's the little sister of one of our friends back on the highway. She wanted to come and check on Carl. I'm Glen and that's T-Dog." Glen said

"Why happened to your arm?" Maggie asked

"Cut it, now it's infected." T-Dog answered

"Come on in, I'll make y'all something to eat and we can have a look at that arm of yours. Also the dog has to stay outside." Maggie said walking to the door.

"Food?" Layla questioned realizing how hungry she was. "And why does Samantha have to stay outside, she's trained."

"Yeah, and I'm sorry sweetie, we just don't want animals in the house, it's not good for Carl." Maggie said smiling at the ten year old as they went to walk in the house.

"Stay here Samantha" Layla ordered following after Maggie. After eating something, they looked at T-Dog's arm and Glen gave then the medicine he got from Daryl and awkwardly explained what happened. Layla ran in to see Carl.

"Is he gonna be okay?" She asked from the doorway, startling both Rick and Lori.

"Layla?" Lori asked as she reached out to the girl, she hadn't realized came with Glen and T-Dog. Layla walked carefully to Lori and welcomed the hug, but her eyes never left Carl's face.

"He'll be alright." Rick said reassuringly even if he wasn't so sure himself.

"He better be, he's my friend, and I don't want to lose him too." Layla said as tears fell down her cheeks. Lori hugged her tightly again; for only being ten, she had been through so much and lost so many, she couldn't bear to lose another person close to her.

"Why don't you go back to Glen now, okay?" Lori said softly, wiping a few tears from Layla's face.

"Okay." Layla said sadly, taking one last glance at her friend before leaving the room.

The walk down the highway, turned out to be a walk through the woods. The trio didn't wander too far in, but they still were taking a risk. It had been silent for the most part, until Andrea spoke up.

"Do you really think we're going to find Sophia?"

"Yeah." Angela said without hesitation

"You got the same look as everyone else Andrea." Daryl said. "The hell is wrong with you people, we just started lookin'. Seems like the only person b'sides me that's not given up yet is Angela." He finished, the way he said Angela's name wasn't as cold as she expected it to be.

"Well, do you?" Andrea asked again.

"It ain't the mountains, it's Georgia. She's probably held up in a barn somewhere. When people get lost, they survive, it happens all the time."

"She's only twelve."

"What? Do you think she's gone for good then Andrea?" Angela asked

"I don't know, she's a kid and she's lost." Andrea stated.

"Hell, I was younger than her when I got lost." Daryl said telling Angela and Andrea the story about him getting lost and no one came looking for him, and causing the girls to laugh a little when he talked about the poison ivy. "The only difference is Sophia's got people lookin' for her. I call that an advantage."

"Hey Daryl." Angela said quietly, when he mentioned his brother during his story, she realized she needed to speak up.

"What?"

"I'm sorry about what I said about your brother earlier today."

"Don' worry 'bout it, unless you decide to say somethin' else bad 'bout him. Other than that, drop it."

"Right, I really am sorry though, I know how it would be if it was my brother."

"You have a brother?" Andrea asked.

"Did, I'd rather not talk about it." Angela replied looking away from the two, her eyes filling with tears.

It was silent then on until they came across a tent. As they drew closer too it they noticed the leaves of the tree above it shaking.

"What the hell?" Daryl said upon seeing the walker hanging by a rope in the tree.

"Think he was dumb enough to do that or did someone tie him up there?" Angela asked looking up at the creature, before Daryl read the note on the trunk of the tree.

"He was dumb enough, turned himself into a swinging piece of bait." Andrea made a noise after he finished.

"You alright Andrea?" Angela asked

"Trying not to puke."

"Go ahead if you gotta." Daryl said

"No I'm fine, let's just change the subject. How'd you learn to shoot?"

"Gotta eat, one thing we have in common with these guys, the other geeks already cleaned off his legs." That did it for Andrea.

"Changing the subject, Angela how about you?"

"Dad would take me huntin' taught me how to shoot a gun, and as for the bow, the zombie apocalypse happened and I wasn't gonna leave my gramp's bow behind." Angela replied tearing her eyes from the piñata walker to look at Andrea. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's head back." Daryl said and Angela began to follow, forgetting about the walker.

"Wait aren't you going to." Andrea began referring to the walker dangling from the tree.

"Nah, waste of an arrow." Daryl said but Andrea just looked back at the walker. "Guess the question is do you want to live?"

"An answer for an arrow."

"Fair 'nough"

"I don't know if I want to or if I just need to." Andrea said, Angela just stood back from the two not completely sure what they were going on about

"Not much of an answer," Daryl said shooting the walker dead. "Waste of an arrow."

Daryl and Andrea walked past Angela heading back to camp; she began to follow at first, but then turned around, going back towards the tree.

Looking for low branches, Angela managed to climb up the tree and over to where the walker hung. Just. As she pulled the arrow front the thing's head, she slipped and fell from the tree. She landed hard on her side and laid there for a moment from the pain and once she made sure nothing was broken, rose to her feet.

"Where's Angela?" Andrea asked when she noticed their brunette friend was no longer with them."

"Damn, I told her not to get lost." Daryl cursed as he looked around them.

"And I told you I wouldn't." Angela called leaning up against a tree.

"Where were you?" Andrea asked

"Making sure your answer wasn't a waste of an arrow."

"What?" Andrea asked and Angela pulled the arrow into view.

"You went and got my arrow?" Daryl asked, seeing but hardly believing as he walks towards her.

"Yeah, there's only so many arrows, no need to waste any." Angela said pushing away from the tree only to have pain shoot through her leg and hip. She closed her eyes from the pain, stumbled and felt the wind blow past her as she began to fall, but was caught before she could hit the ground.

"Exactly how did you get my arrow?" Daryl asked when she looked up at him.

"Climbed the tree and onto the branch the walker was tied to." Angela said like it was nothing while she let Daryl help her stand correctly.

"How'd you get down?" he asked next knowing what happened.

"Oh well, I, umm."

"Fell?" Andrea asked catching on.

"Sort of, landed on my side. Nothing's broken but it hurts like hell to put a lot of weight on my right leg." Angela explained sheepishly.

"Figures, you'd go an' get yourself hurt. Let's just get back to the RV." Daryl said putting the arrow away and helping Angela walk back to camp.


	9. Chapter 9

**Well I kind of forgot about uploading another chapter today until right now. So depending on where you are I could be late, but at least I'm posting now. :) I'll probably have another chapter up later as well, depends on what happens throughout the day. Hope you are all enjoying my story. Let me know what y'all think, I love to hear from my readers, be it good things or things I could work on. Now, on to the chapter!**

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Morning came early the next day. Angela's leg wasn't really better, but she was able to put weight on it to help set up the car with supplies for Sophia. Angela sat on the hood of the car writing the final words of the message:

** Sophia, stay here. We will come every day.**

"That's all we can do, hopefully she'll find it and she'll be safe." Dale said placing a couple more cans of food on the car.

Angela hopped down of the car and stumbled into Daryl as she cursed from the pain.

"Shouldn' be on that leg anymore."

"I had to help."

"We could have handled it, Daryl's right; you hurt your leg pretty bad last night and should be off of it." Dale said, he acted like a father the way he looked after the group.

"We're leaving now; right, to head to the farm?"

"We need to put a few more things into the cars, but we don't need you hurting yourself anymore. Go lay down in the RV, prop that leg up." Dale ordered.

"Alright, I know when I've lost." Angela said limping to the RV and lying in the back. Packing things didn't take long and they were soon on the road.

The drive was short and once the cars were parked everyone rushed to get out and go to Rick and Lori. Except Angela who was taking her time, so she wouldn't hurt her leg any further.

"How is he?" Dale asked

"He'll pull through." Lori answered tears coming to her eyes. "Thanks to Hershel, and his people, and Shane."

"We would have lost Carl if it wasn't for him." Rick said

Dale glanced at Shane before walking up to Rick and giving him a hug, Carol doing the same to Lori.

"Daryl!" Layla's voice rang from the porch as she ran to him, stopping at his side and smiling up at him. "Where's my sister?"

"In the RV." He answered giving her a small smile.

"Layla." Angela said holding onto the RV door for support.

"Angela!" Layla exclaimed running to her sister and tackling her to the ground.

"Layla please get off of me." Angela breathed trying to ignore the pain in her leg and hip.

"Hate to ask this since you've already done so much for our group, but do you think you could take a look at that leg of hers?" Dale asked he looked between Hershel and Angela who was getting help from Daryl to stand.

"Startin' to become a pain in my ass, girl." Daryl said quietly as he pulled Angela to her feet.

"Once this pain in my leg goes away, I'll be out of your way." Angela said brushing herself off.

"Come inside and we'll have a look at your leg." Hershel called out, and Angela began to limp towards the house. "How did you hurt it?" He asked once she made it to the porch and helped her up the steps.

"Fell from a tree." Angela stated sheepishly.

"Well let's hope it's nothing serious."

It wasn't; just the way she landed bruised her side badly, but she didn't break anything. Hershel said that if she kept off of it for a while it would be better in no time. Angela agreed to stay off her leg, but only after the service they held for Otis, the man who died saving Carl.

Hershel spoke, while everyone placed a rock on the pile, and once he finished he asked Shane to say some words.

"I'm not good at it, I'm sorry." He said looking down.

"Please you're the one who was last with him, the one who saw him in his final moments. I need to know his death had meaning." A woman asked, who Angela found out was Patricia, Otis's wife.

Shane stood there a moment before speaking. "We were about done..." He began, telling the story about how Otis stayed behind to cover him. "If not for Otis I'd have never made it out alive, and that goes for Carl too. He saved us both and if a death ever had meaning, it was his."

Angela sat on the swing Hershel had in the yard with Layla, listening to what everyone was saying about the search for Sophia. She heard Daryl say that he was on his own with the search and that worried her and she didn't like it. She didn't want to care about him, but she did and that frightened her. She also heard about giving up guns, but that fact didn't bother her so much as long as she had her bow and machete.

After a few minutes, Angela made her way to the hammock, wanting to lie down for a few minutes and enjoy the peace that seemed to linger in this place. She didn't realize that dozed off until she heard feet walking by and then Daryl's southern accent rang out, waking her up completely.

"Don't work too hard now princess."

"Shut up Dixon, I was told to stay off my feet, so I am!" Angela shouted at him. "Where are you off to?"

"Find that lil girl, seems no one else is gonna find her." He answered as he walked over to her.

"Be careful." Angela said before she could stop herself.

"What do you care?" He asked a bit taken back at her comment.

"I don't, I just know that you're probably our best bet at finding her." Angela said which was partly true.

"Yeah don' worry yourself, I'm gonna find her an' she's gonna be jus' fine." Daryl said as he began to walk off.

"Oh and Daryl!" Angela called getting him to stop. "Don't call me princess again, that's Layla's nickname, not mine." She said smiling at the end, Daryl didn't show any emotion as he turned and disappeared amongst the trees.

Angela had enough of sitting around once the sun started to set and began walking around the property watching Layla and Samantha play in the large area.

"Hey Layla, let's go back to camp!" Angela called.

"Okay! Let's go Sam!" Layla called running with her dog back to camp. Angela smiled slightly at her sister, before limping after her. Seeing that her sister was safe with Lori, Angela went towards the fence, walking by the RV just as the door swung open to reveal Daryl.

"Thought you were stayin' off your feet." He said once he saw Angela.

"Got tired of sittin' around. Did you find anything?" Angela asked hope filling her voice.

"Not really, there was a house not far from here. In the cupboard there was what looked like a makeshift bed, but other than that I got nothin'" Daryl answered. Angela looked away for a minute, her hope diminishing, then her eyes landed on Shane sitting in camp and she turned back to Daryl.

"Hey Daryl, can I talk to you for a minute?" Angela asked not sure how to address the thoughts she had.

"What you don' think we're talkin' now?" Daryl asked

"I meant away from everybody else, I gotta ask you something."

"A'right fine." He said giving in and following Angela away from the group. "So what's on your mind Angel?" He questioned when she didn't speak.

"What did you call me?" Angela asked fighting the smile that was tugging at her lips.

"Told me I couldn' call you princess, so I had to come up with somethin'" Daryl replied leaning against the fence.

"Right and Angel was the best ya got?" Angela said smiling up at him.

"So ya gonna tell me what you wanted to talk 'bout or not?" Daryl said changing the subject.

"Right, uh, did you believe Shane's story today?"

"Rick, trust him."

"And that's good enough for you?"

"Should be good 'enough for you as well."

"Look, I'm not saying I don't trust Rick, 'cause I do, but the way Shane was acting while telling his story didn't seem right to me."

"What do ya mean?"

"He wouldn't look straight at anyone, always keeping his gaze down or off in the distance, he stuttered a bit, and he didn't want to say anything in the first place."

"Ya pay to close attention to things."

"Maybe, but that's just who I am, and maybe I'm reading the signs wrong, but I'm still gonna worry. I lost my sister once; I don't want anything to happen to her again." Angela said her voice losing the intensity it had before, causing Daryl to walk closer to her and place a hand on her shoulder.

"Ain't nothin' gonna happen to your sister, you aren't the only one watchin' out for her. As for Shane, he ain't a threat to her, and he ain't one to you either, quit thinkin' so hard 'bout his story."

"We'll at least I know there's one person I can trust in this camp."

"Yeah, 'n' who's that?"

"You, Daryl, ya dumb hick." Angela said with a small laugh. "You saved my sister, and I know your one of the ones watching out for her. Thanks."

"We're a group, ain't that what we're s'posed to do?"

"Yeah, guess so." Angela said and the two walked back into camp. Angela noticed the look Dale gave her from atop the RV, but she brushed it off as she went to help finish dinner.


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay so I haven't done so well at keeping up with updating daily. So I'm updating a few chapters now for you lovelies as my way of making up for not keeping my word. Thank y'all for reading, favoriteing, following, and any reviews I receive/have received since starting this story. Now, on to chapter 10 and a rather long chapter too! :)**

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The next morning most of the group was gathered around the map Maggie had given them and this time Angela was there too. Her leg felt much better from staying off it yesterday, even though it wasn't fully healed, she wasn't limping around anymore, well at least it wasn't noticeable anymore.

"Alright we're getting new search grids today, if she went as far as that farm house Daryl found; then she's gone farther east than we thought." Rick stated.

"I'd like to help." One of Hershel's people, a kid named Jimmy, said coming towards the group. "I know the land pretty well."

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick questioned having a hard time believing him.

"Yeah, he said I should ask you."

"Alright thanks."

"Nothing about what Daryl found is screaming 'Sophia' to me." Shane said sitting in the car.

"Really Shane? Can't you have a little faith for once?" Angela asked from her spot between Daryl and T-Dog. Even with Daryl telling her that Shane wasn't a threat of any sorts, she still didn't trust him.

"Look, anyone could have been held up in that farm house."

"Anyone including her?" Andrea chimed in and Daryl explained that about how high the person could have been to fit.

"Well it's about the only lead we got." Angela pointed out.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again."

"Maybe, I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here. Get a bird's eye view of everything; if she's out there I'll see her." Daryl said leaning around Angela to point on the map.

"So you're gonna be on your own again?" Angela said quietly, but hoping she'd be ignored, she wasn't.

"Yeah, that a problem for you?" Daryl asked looking down at her; she glanced at him quickly before looking down at the map again.

"No, it's whatever you wanna do Dixon." She said trying to brush off the concern she showed.

"It's a good idea; maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too." T-Dog said and Dale explained briefly that Daryl mentioned his sighting of it, the first night at camp.

"You've seen the chupacabra?" Angela asked with a slight laugh of disbelief.

"Yeah I did." Daryl responded defensively, Angela just put her hands up.

"Whatever you say hick."

"You believe in a blood sucking dog? Rick asked

"You believe in the dead coming back to life?" That ended the conversation, causing Rick to finish telling everyone where they'd search, and telling Angela she wasn't coming because of her leg. Once everyone began to walk off, Dale came up.

"Angela can I talk to you for a minute?"

"What's up Dale?" He seemed a bit off.

"I just wanted to know," he began taking some time to fix the watch he wore. "Is there something going on between you and Daryl?"

"No Dale, there's not." Angela said but not as confidently as she hoped, Dale seemed to buy it some.

"Alright, I'm just making sure you're okay. Daryl's not the kind of person you really want to be around."

"Doesn't seem like a bad guy to me, Dale. Why are you so worried?"

"Look I just care is all." Dale said taking a step closer to Angela. "I don't want you getting hurt and Daryl is, unpredictable, I guess is the best way I can describe him."

"Dale, you don't have to worry about me, it's sweet that you care, but I'm okay really. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go see if there's any chores I can help with." Angela said walking back to camp and finding Lori.

"Hey Lori." She said greeting her with a smile. "How's Carl?"

"He's good, getting better." Lori said a ghost of a smile floating across her features.

"That's good, is there anything I can help with?"

"Laundry would be helpful. We've got some clothes hung up that should be dry fairly soon think you can check on them and take them down?"

"Sure thing." Angela said beginning to walk off.

"One more thing." Lori called out, causing Angela to stop in her tracks. "We're going to see if we can cook in the kitchen tonight, as a thanks to Hershel and his family, do you think you can help with that some?"

"I'm honestly not that great a cook, but sure, I'll help."

"Thank you, now go check those clothes."

"No problem."

Laundry was a tiresome task to Angela; it wasn't hard at all, but completely boring. All Lori and Carol had her doing was hanging them up and taking them down once they were dry. She didn't complain though, she wanted to pull her own weight, and once her leg was better she'd be out there helping look for Sophia.

Time seemed to go by slowly, but eventually the laundry was done for the day and Carol and Lori retreated inside to begin cooking. Instead of helping with the food right away, Lori told Angela to spend some time with her sister and said she'd call when they needed her help.

Layla was running around with Samantha again, it was amazing how she could be so carefree with all that's happened, yet there she was laughing like she used to while playing tug-a-war with Samantha, before the world ended. The farm seemed safe though, they hadn't seen any walkers on the land, minus the one they had found in the well. Of course it was too soon to say that the farm was the perfect safety for them.

"Walker!" Andrea called from atop the RV.

"Layla!" Angela yelled to her sister who came running with the dog on her heels.

"Is there just the one?"

"Yeah I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea said grabbing the gun while Rick told her to put it down.

"No, best let us best let us handle this."

"Shane no, Hershel wants to deal with the walkers." Rick said trying to keep control over the situation.

"Why man? We got this." Shane said as him and a few others went to greet the unwelcomed guest. Rick realized arguing was useless and ran to catch up with them. Angela stood holding onto Layla's shoulders by the RV with Samantha sitting by her feet and Dale by her side as he stood on the ladder. Andrea, despite being told to leave it, clicked off the gun's safety and aimed at the freak while telling Dale to shove off.

"Andrea, I understand you want to protect the group, but just let them handle this one." Angela said noticing this then looking back at the group. "They stopped, I'm gonna go see what's up. Layla stay by Dale." She ordered running quickly to the group as she took out her knife. Her heart was racing, when she finally slowed to a quick walk as she neared the group and noticing the walker.

"Daryl." She breathed, he looked horrible, and to make matters worse a gunshot rang out and Daryl collapsed. Angela's heart stopped momentarily, but hearing him mutter a few words started it again.

"Angela, go tell Hershel what happened." Rick said as he and Shane picked Daryl up and began carrying him to the house.

"Right." She said taking off in a run back to the house, she slowed a bit when Andrea tried stopping her asking if everything was okay. "You just had to be the hero, didn't you?!" Tears burned Angela's eyes, but didn't fall. "You couldn't have just left it to the others!" She yelled before continuing to Hershel and explaining what happened.

Rick, Shane, and Hershel were the only ones behind the closed door with Daryl. Angela left Layla with Glen and sat with outside the door with Lori, her tears finally falling.

"You care a lot for Daryl, huh?" Lori said placing a comforting arm around Angela's shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess I do. I don't want to though." Angela said finally letting out how she feels.

"Why not?"

"'Cause every time I care about someone, I lose them. I'm working so hard at keeping Layla safe, I don't need another person to worry about losing."

"Can't help how you feel." Lori said "We're all afraid of losing those we care about, even before the world ended. Something we just have to cope with, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't care." Angela looked up at Lori tears still swimming in her eyes.

"Daryl doesn't care though, said it himself too, he's better off on his own. I'm falling for a man that doesn't give a shit about me."

"Has he told you that?"

"It's Daryl, grant it I haven't known him long, but I know he's not the type to talk about feelings."

"You never know, love can change a person."

"The world's ended; the dead have come back to life, and were sittin' here talkin' about love and feelings. Just doesn't seem right." Angela scoffed.

"Just because the world ended doesn't mean we should shove everyone out and become cold hearted. Give love a chance sweetheart, let Daryl know how you feel."

"So you're telling me to just flat out tell him? Like that's gonna work with him."

"Maybe not flat out tell him, but find ways to let him know that doesn't make it seem like you're wanting to just talk about feelings." Angela let out a defeated sigh.

"Maybe you're right Lori, but I just don't want to screw things up then have him avoid me, and I don't want to lose him." Angela confessed, wiping at her face to clear it from a few stray tears.

The door to the bedroom opened as Rick and Shane exited the room. Angela and Lori stood quickly.

"He'll be alright." Rick assured them, and Angela let out a sigh of relief as Lori put a hand on her shoulder sending her a slight smile.

"Hate to say this, but I'm with Hershel. We can't keep going out there, not after this." Shane said and Angela stared disbelieving at him.

"You'd quit now?" Rick questioned stepping closer to Shane. "Daryl almost died to bring back the first hard evidence we've had."

"If that's the way you look at it. The way you look at it, Daryl almost died to bring back a doll." Shane replied

"Yeah I know the way you see it." Rick said before walking off.

"We can't quit the search. Sophia's still out there; we have to keep this up for Carol, she needs to know if her daughter's okay, and Daryl, he's not going to just give up, not after finding the doll. There's still hope."

"Angela, the girl's been gone for a few days now, I hate to break it to ya, but there really isn't much hope left."

"Whatever Shane, can I step in and see Daryl real quick?"

"If Hershel says it's alright."  
Shane said stepping down the hall a ways. Angela knocked on the door lightly, hearing Hershel's 'yes' before opening it slightly.

"Can I come in for a second?" Angela questioned quietly.

"Don't see why not, I could use a bit of help anyways." Hershel replied covering up the 'no' Daryl uttered. Angela walked in, closing the door behind her.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Clean around that wound on his head as I get the supplies ready to stitch it and bandage it." He said handing Angela what she needed.

She walked to the other side of the bed, setting the things on the nightstand, getting what she needed and settling herself on the bed beside Daryl.

"Move your hand." She ordered and Daryl complied, and she began to clean the wound.

"Why're you here?" He questioned wincing slightly as she cleaned the cut.

"To help out." Angela said trying not to look in his blue eyes, she was nervous being around him after the talk she had with Lori. She finally confronted her feelings for him, deciding on how she felt, and it made being around him all the more difficult. "Layla was worried about you."

"She don' need to be." He replied quickly.

"She's ten, and you saved her life; you're her hero."

"Hero don' exactly fit someone like me."

"You're right, it doesn't fit someone who risks their own life to save a girl who can't protect herself, or to find one that's lost in the woods." Angela replied and didn't receive a response.

She finally tore her eyes from the cut on his head to look at his face. He was looking up at her with an unreadable expression. She leaned back away from him, when Hershel said that the wound was clean enough and let him work on stitching it.

"What no witty comeback?" She questioned lightly.

"Shut up." He finally muttered looking away from her.

"Even a hick like you can be a hero, and to my little sister you are one." Angela said rosin from the bed and heading towards the door. "And I can't thank you enough for it. You don't need my help anymore do you Hershel?"

"No, I've got it from here. Thank you for helping."

"You're welcome. Oh and Daryl, thought you should know that Shane thinks you almost died just to bring back a doll, that its leading us nowhere close to finding Sophia. He wants Rick to call off the search."

"That lil girl's still out there an' until she's found I ain't gonna stop lookin'" Daryl stated

"Figured you'd say something like that, and I agree. There's still a chance if finding her, and I'm not giving up either." Angela said taking her leave and heading towards the kitchen.

Dinner was almost ready by the time Angela went to help, but she still managed to lend a hand and soon everyone was eating. The room was mostly quiet, except the clinking of dishes. Glen tried to ease the tension by asking if someone played guitar, but that just made it worse because it brought Otis up and everyone went silent again.

Relief washed over everyone when dinner finished, they were glad to get away from the deafening silence. Angela began to help clean up the dishes, when Layla ran up to her.

"Angie is Daryl okay?"

"Yeah, sweetie, he's gonna be just fine."

"Can you give him this for me?" Layla said handing Angela a paper with 'get well soon' written on it with some drawings. "I just want him to get better and I know he's not the type to be all nice, but I thought it might cheer him up." For a ten year old she sometimes seemed older, but then her innocence would shine through.

"Yeah I'll give it to him, I'm sure he'll appreciate it." Angela said giving her sister a smile, before she ran off.

Angela heard someone say they needed the dishes from Daryl's room, so she jumped at the chance to go and headed up the stairs passing Rick and Shane having a conversation about another run. Once at the door she just stood there for a moment looking down at Layla's picture before folding it up neatly and tapping in the door before walking in. She caught Daryl's eye as she entered before he turned away.

"What do ya want?" He asked

"Came to see if you ate and take your dishes." Angela replied closing the door and crossing her arms across her chest as she looked at him.

"You can take 'em, done eatin'." He said still refusing to look her way.

"You gonna look at me, acknowledge me at all besides the short statements you're giving me?"

"Don' need to look at ya for you to take dishes to the kitchen." He grumbled, Angela had enough of his attitude but stayed calm as she walked to the other side of the bed.

"Too bad I'm here on other business as well." She said holding out the paper to him.

"What's that?" He questioned hesitating to take it from her hand and open it.

"Little something from Layla. I told you she was worried." Angela said sitting on the bed as he unfolded the paper.

"A piece of paper with get well on it."

"Can't really get you a card, so that was the next best thing to her. She figured it might cheer you up, even if you're not really the type to be all nice, as she put it."

"Sweet of her." Daryl admitted.

"You got a soft spot for kids under all that tough demeanor you got going on." Angela said a smirk on her lips.

"Whatever. That all you needed?"

"One more thing, I want to go ahead and apologize if Layla bothers you tomorrow, I think someone is making a run somewhere and I'm asking to go and if I do she may come in to see ya."

"Lord you worry too much."

"What do you mean?"

"First ya worry 'bout Shane's story, then ya worryin' 'bout me goin' in the search alone 'n' gettin' shot, and now ya worryin' 'bout ya sister botherin' me."

"There's nothing wrong with worrying. It's not controlling my life, not stopping me from doing things, so it's not an issue. Sometimes people need to care and worry for others and sometimes they need to be the ones who are worried. You've been the one worrying constantly about Sophia, so don't say anything about me worrying and caring about what happens to you, trust me I'd rather not worry about anything 'cept myself. Not the case though, but right now Sophia's not the only one we need to worry about; Carl's still healing, and you've been shot and you had your own damn arrow go through your side."

"Pointless all that worryin' 'n' carin'. Gets you nowhere, 'cept hurt."

"Can't help it either. People are gonna care about you Daryl, and even if you deny it, you care and worry about things too."

"You can keep sayin' that, but it ain't gonna make it true." Daryl said Angela leaned close to his face to make a point.

"I know it's true 'cause you're determined more than anyone to find Sophia, and to bring it up for the millionth time, you saved my sister," Angela said leaning away, before she did something she'd regret. "And I still can't thank you enough for that." With that said Angela stood from her spot, fleeing from the room with his dishes, before he could say more.


	11. Chapter 11

**I give you chapter 11 dears and 11 more chapters till I'm caught up with what I've written so far. :) Hope y'all are enjoying thanks for reading, those who've hit the favorite button, and those who are following. Please let me know what you think, I love hearing from y'all.**

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Sleep didn't come easily to Angela; her mind was plagued with thoughts of Daryl, and the conversations she had with him and Lori. She didn't know why she cared so much about Daryl, it was obvious he didn't care about her, but she couldn't help it. Seeing him hurt bothered her more than anything.

Angela woke when the sun began to rise, the soft rays shining through the mesh of her tent and dancing across her face. Rolling over in her bed, she looked around her small tent to see Layla sound asleep across from her with Samantha lying beside her. A smile tugged at her lips as she looked at them before deciding to get ready for the day.

Angela threw on a clean pair of jeans and t-shirt before leaving her tent to find that most of the camp was still asleep and all was quiet. Dale sat on the roof of the RV keeping watch, even if the farm seemed safe they weren't about to let their guard down.

"Mornin' Dale." Angela called up to the man.

"Morning, you're up a bit early." Dale noted sending her a smile.

"Just woke up so I decided to greet the day. I'm sure everyone else will be up in a few as well."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Dale chuckled

"Have you seen Rick, or is he still asleep?" Angela questioned.

"I believe he's in the house with Carl."

"Thank you Dale." Angela said making her way to the farmhouse. She was halfway there when someone called out to her.

"What do you need Rick for?" Angela turned to see Shane drawing closer to her.

"Just need to ask him a question is all." Angela said trying to continue to the house only to have Shane keep in step with her.

"You know he's with Carl right now, so why not ask me. I'll know just as well as Rick will."

"I want to see Carl anyways, see how he's doing. Besides I'd rather ask Rick."

"Carl's fine, just ask me your question." Shane ordered as they stopped at the stairs.

"I want to see him Shane, and I want to ask Rick, just drop it." Angela said turning from Shane and jogging up the steps to go through the front door. Just as quickly as it began to open, it was forced closed. Shane stood by Angela with his hand firmly on the door, keeping her from entering the house.

"Just leave Rick alone Angela and ask me." Shane stated again.

"My question most likely has nothing to do with you. Besides I know I'll get the right answer from Rick, so that's who I want to ask." Angela said trying to open the door again, but unable to move it much thanks to Shane, who was about to respond to her before another voice rang out from the other side of the screen door.

"What do you want to ask me?" Rick questioned coming to the door. Angela and Shane stepped away to let him out.

"Rick, how's Carl?" Angela questioned trying to gain some confidence to ask the real question on her mind. A smile came to Rick's face.

"He's good should be on his feet at some point today."

"That's good to hear." Angela said a smile gracing her own features.

"That wasn't what you were going to ask me though was it." Rick stated more than asked as he looked at Angela, whose smile began to falter.

"Not really, I was wondering if anyone was making a run into town today?"

"That's what you wanted to ask?!" Shane exclaimed. Rick held up a hand to silence him before he could continue.

"Yes, Shane's going into town today, a part Maggie hasn't wondered into, to see if there's anything we could use. Why do you want to know?" Rick explained both him and Shane eyeing her closely.

"Well, my leg is better and-"

"You're not going." Shane stated bluntly cutting Angela off.

"Why not? I'm a good shot, and I'm quick on my feet. I want to pull my weight around here and doing laundry isn't cutting it. Let me prove myself, show that I'm a good addition to this group and not just another mouth to feed." Angela pleaded. Shane looked at Rick expectantly.

"Your run Shane, it's your call, but she makes a good point." Rick shrugged. Shane let out an aggravated breath before looking at Angela.

"Alright you can go, but you do what I say. You're not going into town shooting noisily at every damn walker there."

"I know Shane I'm not dumb and I have a bow, silent and quick. We won't be attracting attention to ourselves." Angela said a smile creeping onto her face again.

"We better not. We're leaving right after breakfast so you better be ready and not keep me waiting."

"Don't worry Shane I won't." Angela said turning and walking down the steps to make her way back to camp.

Angela noticed more people were roaming the camp now as she walked to her tent only to find it empty. A slight frown etched its way onto her face as she turned, leaving her tent in search of her little sister. She began to weave her way through the tents hoping to spot her sister or the protective Border collie, but both were nowhere to be found. Continuing her search, Angela came across Carol preparing breakfast for the group.

"Morning Carol." She said catching the woman's attention.

"Good morning Angela." Carol replied looking briefly at Angela before turning back to her cooking.

"Have you seen Layla, I can't find her."

"I saw her with Glen a few minutes ago talking about playing with Samantha in the fields away from the barn."

"Okay, thank you Carol." Angela stated walking away. She found the two people running around together while Samantha barked wildly. "Ya wearin' Glen out this morning Layla!" Angela called with a smile. The three stopped running for a moment before Layla ran to Angela, Glen slowly following.

"Where were you this morning?" Layla asked hugging her older sister.

"Sorry I just left you; I had to go ask Rick a question, but today I need you to stay with Lori or someone while I make a run with Shane okay?"

"Okay, just be careful." Layla said holding Angela tighter in fear of losing her again. Angela hugged her just as tight.

"No worries I will be." Angela said before looking at Glen. "You alright?"

"Yeah just trying to catch my breath. She sure can run." Glen breathed.

"She wanted to be like our dad, he would always go for a run during the week and Layla decided that she wanted to run too. I guess you can say she worked pretty hard at running as far as dad would, she'd always run with Samantha around our big backyard and eventually dad let her come with him." Angela explained as they walked back to camp.

"He sounds like a good guy." Glen said.

"He was the best. He died protecting our mother, and then killed her once he turned." Angela practically whispered.

"I'm sorry." Glen said placing a hand in her shoulder. Angela looked towards him but his gaze had fallen somewhere past her and he looked nervous. Turning she saw Maggie standing on the porch, before looking back at him.

"Everything okay between you and Maggie?"

"W-What do you mean?" Glen stuttered looking away.

"I mean you two seemed pretty close, now you're acting nervous when you see her and it's not a good nervous, like butterflies in your stomach, but a something's wrong type of nervous."

"Oh, we just had a disagreement of sorts." Glen confessed still refusing to look at Angela.

"Okay, I'm not going to press for answers. You'll speak when you're ready to."

"Carl!" Layla exclaimed running to greet her friend who was finally on his feet. Angela and Glen wore smiles as they approached the group where breakfast was being served.

"Good to see you on your feet Carl." Angela said coming to stand by the fire.

"Thanks, I'm so happy to be out of the house." Carl replied taking a plate from his mother.

"Someone should take a plate inside to Daryl." Carol said continuing to make everyone a plate.

"I'll do it." Angela offered receiving the next plate to take to him and beginning to head towards the house.

"Remember Angela, were leaving shortly so hurry up." Shane stated, but Angela just continued walking.

She soon found herself standing in front of the bedroom door, her nerves causing her to hesitate. With a deep breath she knocked only to revive a muffled 'what' before entering, catching Daryl's eye as she kicked the door shut.

"Brought you breakfast." She said handing him the plate, receiving a nod as thanks. She stood there for a moment while Daryl began to eat, trying to find the words to say, but none came to mind so she turned to leave.

"Ya goin' on that run today?" Daryl asked just as her hand touched the doorknob. She faced him then and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, Shane and I are going to a part of town no one here's been to." Angela answered softly.

"Thought ya didn't trust Shane."

"I don't, but I want to go. I want to pull my own weight around here and I think this supply run is going to help me do that."

It was silent then, the only sound was Daryl eating. It wasn't particularly awkward, but it wasn't a very comfortable one either. Angela's gaze shifted from Daryl to her feet, she knew that she needed to go back to camp, but she enjoyed being around Daryl even if he wasn't the most welcoming company. The silence lingered between the two and Angela couldn't stay longer, Shane was going to be pissed by her staying the few minutes she had already.

"Well I'm gonna go now, Shane's probably throwing a fit 'cause I'm not back yet. See ya 'round Daryl." Angela said reaching for the door again.

"Watch your back out there Angel. Don't need ya gettin' bit." Daryl said suddenly.

"Thought you didn't care." Angela said with a smirk.

"Shut up, I don't." Daryl said ending their conversation. Angela couldn't help but smile a bit at his reaction.

"Thanks, but no worries I'll be fine." She said as she left.

As soon as she left the house, she could tell Shane was furious. She tried not to let that get to her though and ate her breakfast quickly as he glared at her. Once she finished, she grabbed her bow and arrows, a decent hand gun from the gun bag, and hopped in the passenger seat as Shane drove off the farm.


	12. Chapter 12

**Think I'm going to post this chapter and one more for the night, unless someone asks for another when/if the review. Hope you are enjoying my story, thanks a ton for reading. :)**

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Driving down the road to town seemed so surreal. Everything looked so peaceful, like the world never ended and the dead came back to life. Things had been quiet between the two companions, Shane behind the wheel and Angela staring off out the window. That soon ended when the town came into view.

"Alright, we're here to get basic supplies; medicine, food, useful things." Shane said, but didn't revive much of an answer from Angela. "We stick together, and you do as I say, we clear on that?"

"Whatever you say Shane, I got your back a long as you've got mine." Angela stated tearing her eyes away from the fields as buildings took over so she could look at Shane.

"I got your back don't worry, we're a team right now. Gotta get you back safely to Layla anyways, and that dumb hick you're interested in." Shane said disgust in his voice at the end.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me Angela; I know there's something going on between you and Daryl." Shane said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well you're wrong. There's nothing going on between me and Daryl." Angela said brushing aside his comment.

"Yeah that's why you find an excuse to be around him all the time." His voice began to rise with annoyance.

"Shane, what are you talking about?" Angela said truly confused.

"Oh please everyone can see it, you found a reason to talk to him alone the other day when he got back from searching for Sophia, you yelled at Andrea for shooting him and cried on Lori's shoulder about it, you offered to go get his dishes last night then took forever to return with them, and the same goes for this morning. You take him food, and it took you the longest time to return to the group and eat, putting us behind on getting here."

"Look, I'll tell you like I told Dale, there's nothin between us. I don't think Daryl's a bad guy, so sue me if I care if he gets hurt, he saved my sister and I feel like I owe him, but there's no way for me to repay him. I'll apologize for making us late, if that's what you want, but I won't apologize for worrying about Daryl, or wanting to talk to him from time to time, that's not going to change so deal with it." Angela huffed turning to look out the window again noticing that Shane stopped the car.

"Let's just get this done with before dark." Shane said climbing out of the car. Angela took a deep breath to calm herself, before following suit.

They walked cautiously through the streets. Shane had his shotgun ready and Angela had her bow set, praying there would be no need for them. The streets were empty as the pair walked carefully to the store closest to them. Upon reaching the door, Shane glanced back at Angela before slowing opening and stepping foot inside Angela not far behind.

The store was fairly large for the all town and reminded Angela of a Wal-Mart, though she didn't look at the name so for all she knew it could have been. Shane made hand signs telling Angela to check the right side of the store while he checked the left. Both went their separate ways, walking as silently as possible through the abandoned store. It was obvious that people had been through here once the world ended, things were scattered across the floor as they scanned the aisles and most shelves were bare, but there still seemed to be enough to scavenge through.

"Everything is clear." Angela said with a sigh of relief once she and Shane met back in the center of the store.

"Alright let's get what would be useful to the group and head out; I wanna check a couple of the other stores before we head back." Shane said gesturing towards the glass door they entered through at the other buildings lining the street. "And before it gets dark. He made sure to add. Angela just nodded grabbing a basket by the door and retreating back to the left side of the store.

Once at the very end she began weaving through the aisles grabbing things she knew the group would enjoy having. She grabbed an assortment of clothes, and other various things she thought the group would like or need. Making her way back to Shane she noticed a necklace, it was a silver chain and holding a small colorful butterfly, she grabbed this too knowing Layla would love it and tucked it away in her pocket.

"I grabbed food and what little medicine was left." Shane said when they met back up again.

"I grabbed some clothes, and a variety of other things that we could use." Angela said not bothering to show him her basket. "Not much left in this store though, but I tried to find anything and everything useful. So are we dropping this stuff at the car and moving on to the next store?"

"Yeah, let's move." Shane said giving her a skeptical look but not wanting to waste time in checking to make sure her supplies where really useful.

They did the same with the other store, split up to make sure they were clear, meet back up, split up again to collect supplies, and then meet back and place things in the car. Most of the stores were picked clean and they came out empty handed but there were an occasional few where they manage to scavenge up some supplies.

They had gone through the stores without a single run in with a walker, but that didn't calm Angela like it should have. After her experience in Atlanta, she knew it could change instantly from walker free to a horde of the rotting corpses coming through. Especially since they were beginning to lose daylight.

"The last couple of stores we wet in we're empty and were losing light fast, so this will be the last one we check and we can come back to check others around here another time." Shane said as they walked to the door. Angela nodded as she checked around them before focusing on the task at hand.

The two crept into the store and began their routine. This store was like the last ones they went in; walker free. They searched the small store for supplies, the light outside fading quickly. The room was silent, until a clatter came from the door. Angela head snapped up from the item he was looking at as she set it carefully back down and knocked an arrow. Her eyes met with Shane as the stepped silently towards the doorway. Then they saw it, a lone walker had ventured into the store through the door that hadn't closed behind them.

Angela reacted quickly raising her bow and taking a deep breath before letting the arrow loose, praying it would hit her target. It did, but not where she wanted. The arrow sunk into the walker's shoulder rather than its head, much like the first time he shot one of these freaks with an arrow. The walker cast its gaze at Angela, a hungry snarl escaping its lips. Cursing under her breath, Angela knocked another arrow with shaking hands as the creature stalked closer to her, but before she could shoot a gun sounded and the thing fell.

"The hell was that?!" Shane shouted pulling Angela's shocked state away from the killed zombie on the floor to his outraged face. "Thought you knew how to shoot that thing!"

"I haven't had to use it a lot! I'm sorry if my aim is a little off that's why I have another weapon!" She yelled back motioning towards the machete resting on her hip.

"You could have gotten killed before you were able to get to it."

"Yeah well you didn't have to shoot it. Who knows how many walkers are out there and heard it." Angela said slowly calming down. Shane took a deep breath before speaking.

"Let's get out of here before we have to find out. Just let me grab the bag I filled up and we'll head back to the farm." Shane said walking off.

Angela went to retrieve her arrow from the walker's shoulder wiping the blood on her pants before placing it back in the quiver. Walking closer to the door and glanced out it shock filling features. It was Atlanta all over again; first rather empty streets, then a whole group of the living dead stumbling towards them. She turned quickly away from the door to go find Shane, but ended up running into him as she turned around.

"We've gotta go, and now." She said sternly. Shane gave her a confused look before stealing a glance out the window his shock and fear written on his face.

"Let's go!" He exclaimed, grabbing Angela's arm and bolting out the door and towards the car. Angela put her bow away and pulled out her pistol turning around to shoot at the herd, her aim true. Shane turned as well firing off his shotgun, but soon ran out of ammo and pulled out his hand gun as well.

"Shane get to the car and get it started, I'll try to hold them off for a bit." Angela called to him. He nodded began making his way to the car.

He couldn't help but think of what went down at the school when Otis and he got supplies for Carl's surgery. Of what really occurred rather than what he convinced the others to believe. How he really shot Otis leaving him behind rather than the man sacrificing himself for Carl. He knew not everyone bought it though; Dale didn't truly buy it, and neither than Angela. He could do it again, they may not both make it out alive, and Angela just offered to hold them off.

Shane turned from the car and held up his gun, but he didn't aim at the oncoming walkers, he aimed at an unsuspecting Angela. The zombies would take a bit to get to her; all he had to do was pull the trigger and run, leaving her much like he left Otis. No one would grieve for long over her death, but Layla.

That ten year old girl was the one thing stopping him from going through with it. He saw how fast she was adored and that would tear the group to pieces if she Los Angela. His aim lowered some as he was still debating, wanting nothing more than to save his own life for the cost I hers, when the shot rang out.


	13. Chapter 13

**Last chapter for the night. Unless someone asks for another, I won't be putting up another until maybe later this week. I've got a paper to do research for and write for my English class and didn't realize that the rough draft was due Tuesday and I have a Psychology test Monday, but that's fairly easy. Now enough about me and my problems, and onto the story! Also thanks for reading and all that!**

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Searing pain shot through Angela's leg when she heard the gunshot. She placed a hand over the wound as she stumbled, but managed to keep her balance and continue her way to the car. The walkers were slowly getting closer to her and she gave up hope on holding them back. She gave off one last shot dropping the closest walker to her before turning towards the car to see Shane with a semi shocked look on his face.

"Shane!" She shouted hobbling as fast as she could to the car. Her yell seemed to snap him out of his daze and he dropped the bag he had on the ground rushing to her.

Once by her side he shot a couple of walkers that were too close for comfort before supporting her left side and leading her to the car. Walkers seemed to come from every direction now, limping their way from behind the buildings and closing in on the two survivors.

"Shit, Shane we're not going to make it." Angela said shooting a corpse in the head.

"Don't say that!" Shane snapped; he hadn't run to her for both of them to die. "We're going to make it." He fired off another bullet into a zombie's head.

After killing a few more they made it to the car. Angela climbed in the passenger seat accepting the bag that was thrown at her while Shane rushed to the driver's side. He threw open the door and was about to jump in when a rotting hand managed to latch on to his shoulder pulling him back.

"No!" Angela screamed taking quick aim and killing the zombie, allowing Shane to climb in the car, start it and drive off, occasionally hitting an unlucky walker that got in his way.

Angela threw the bag of supplies into the back seat and looked at the damage on her leg. It wasn't bad, though it hurt like hell, the bullet just grazed her leg and as she inspected the wound, realization hit.

"You shot me!" She shouted snapping her hateful glare on Shane. If looks could kill, Shane would have been long gone. Her emerald eyes cold as anger coursed through her veins.

"Is it bad?" Shane got out; faltering under the intense gaze she had towards him.

"Just a scratch really, but I may need stitches because you. Shot. Me." She hissed he glare still towards Shane. "What happened back there?" Shane let out a ragged sigh, running a hand over his shaved head.

"Look, we're alive so what does it really matter?" He said keeping his eyes on the road rather than Angela.

"It matters 'cause I got shot near a bunch of flesh eating freaks and it almost cost both of us our lives!" Angela said not realizing that hot tears were streaming down her face.

"But we are alive!" Shane stated like it would make everything better.

"Yes and I'm thrilled." Angela stated sounding sarcastic, but really she was happy that they escaped death's grip. "But I want to know what happened, how did you manage to shoot me in the leg rather than a walker?"

"I, it-" Shane stuttered trying to find what to say. He had planned on shooting her, but when he pulled the trigger he was deciding to let her live rather than see the look on Layla's face when he broke the news to the group. "It was an accident." I said hoping she'd believe it was nothing more than that.

Angela could see the way Shane stuttered that in the end he didn't mean to shoot her, but she was sure there was more going on in his head. She trusted everyone in the group, but Shane. She knew something was off about him since the run for medical supplies with Otis.

"Alright." Angela said letting out an agitated breath, turning away from Shane and trying to not worry about his story. For once trying to listen to Daryl's advice about not worrying so much, as she tried keeping pressure on her leg. Shane stayed silent as well, knowing that she didn't fully believe him, but thankful she didn't press for answers.

Soon they were pulling up the drive to the brightly lit farm house. Everyone at the camp began walking towards the car waiting to see what the two brought back. Worry and concern filled the faces of the campers once Angela limping once again.

"Angela, are you okay?" Layla asked coming to her sister's side.

"I will be Layla, don't worry." Angela breathed as she tried to keep weight off her left leg.

"Did you get bit?" Layla asked next, ignoring the 'don't worry' statement.

"No sweetie, I got shot, but-"

"Shot?!" Rick interrupted bewildered.

"Yeah, but it's not bad." Angela tried reasoning, but only the confirmation of being shot was heard as Rick turned to Shane.

"You shot her?"

"Rick, man, it was an accident." Shane tried explaining.

"Never seen you make an accident like shooting your own partner before." Rick stated.

"We were surrounded by walkers man. I, I guess I just panicked and when I shot my aim was off."

"I'd say." Lori chimed in, walking to Angela's side. Shane fell silent, taking in everyone's faces as they either looked at him or Angela.

"Look guys, I'll be fine. The bullet just grazed my leg, I need Hershel to look at it, but I'll be alright. Besides," Angela said staring at Rick before her eyes fell on Shane growing cold once again. "Accidents happen."

"Let's just get you to Hershel." Rick said not looking away from Shane.

"Come on." Lori urged, helping Angela to the house.

"Layla go to our tent and grab me some clean clothes, get me a pair of my shorts." Angela asked and Layla nodded before running to their tent with Samantha.

Before Lori and Angela made it up the steps of the porch, Maggie emerged from the house noticing that something was wrong.

"What happened?"

"She's been shot, we need Hershel." Lori answered before Angela could speak.

"Right come in, I'll go find dad." Maggie said running back into the house. Lori and Angela entered the house and shortly after walking in Maggie came to them. "He's in the room with Daryl; he said to take her to him."

Lori nodded before leading Angela to the bedroom she was dreading on going in. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Daryl; it was that she didn't want him to see her hurt, afraid it would make her seem weak. Angela took a deep breath trying to keep calm as her and Lori walked into the room. Hershel looked up briefly while he wrapped Daryl's head.

"Sit her on the foot of the bed; I'll look at that leg in a moment." Lori complied helping Angela onto the bed just as Layla ran in.

"Here you go Angie." She said breathless from running as she handed over the clothes.

"Thanks Princess."

"Come on Layla let's get out of the way." Lori said ushering Layla out of the room. Hershel finished with Daryl and walked over to Angela, moving the fabric of her pants away from the cut to look at it.

"Doesn't look too bad. Might need a few stitches, but you'll live." Hershel said standing up and walking to the door. "I need to get some more supplies, if you could change into those clothes your sister brought. The bathroom's down the hall." Hershel said about to leave.

"Hershel!" Angela called stopping him. "Do you think it would be alright if I took a quick shower?"

"The bleeding has stopped for the most part so I don't think it would hurt anything, just be careful of your leg." He said walking off. Angela carefully stood from the bed and began walking to the door, well aware of Daryl watching her closely.

"How'd you get shot?" He asked stopping her at the door. She looked back at him an unreadable expression on her face.

"Shane shot me, claims it was an accident." Angela thought she saw a flash of anger behind his blue eyes, but just as quickly as it came it left.

"Were there walkers 'round?" He asked staring into her eyes. Angela had troubles keeping her emotions hidden as she looked at him as tears welled in her eyes; she almost died tonight, and that terrified her.

"They were everywhere, one grabbed Shane before he could get in the car, but I shot it before he could get bit." She answered quietly trying not to let the tears fall. Maggie interrupted before Daryl could reply.

"Angela, here's a towel and rag for you to use."

"Thanks Maggie." Angela said trying to give her a thankful smile. Maggie nodded looking between Angela and Daryl, before leaving. "I should go take my shower." Angela said walking away.

She let the tears fall once she was hidden in the bathroom. She turned the water on before abandoning her blood covered clothes and climbing under the warm water. She just couldn't believe it. She had almost died tonight, never to see her sister, again leaving her without any family. Never see Daryl again either. All because of Shane. He probably would have left her for dead if Layla wasn't here waiting for her safe return. She could have been those freaks' dinner, tore to shreds and eaten alive.

She let out a sob at that thought, covering her mouth trying to keep quiet before shoving all thoughts away and finishing her shower. She changed into her rather short shorts and the thin long sleeved black shirt Layla got her, before gathering her dirty clothes and walking back into the bedroom Daryl was in.

His eyes fell on her immediately when she entered the room, taking in her appearance. She didn't look up as she entered, but he knew he was watching her. She just went and sat on the side of the bed, dropping her dirty clothes on the floor and brought her good leg up, wrapping her arms around it and resting her head on her bare knee. She was silent spare a few sniffles she made from crying a few minutes ago.

Daryl moved over some to give her some more room on the bed causing his side to hurt, but ignored it the best he could. She looked up at him then, her green eyes missing the life and brightness in them and red around the edges. She tore her gaze away from him when Hershel walked in. Not much was said while he stitched her leg other than a few whimpers that escaped Angela's clenched teeth.

"You need to be careful of that leg so you don't pull at the stitches and open the wound again." Hershel said once Angela's leg was wrapped. She merely nodded, looking down rather than at Hershel, who gave her a concerned look before leaving the room. The two sat in silence as Daryl watched her carefully, unsure of what to do.

"Angel?" He said softly, finally breaking the somber silence that surrounded them. She stayed silent and continued to stare at down. He was about to speak again, a bit confused about why he felt the need to comfort her in some way, when she spoke.

"I almost died today." She said quietly. Daryl just looked at her and waited. "If that had happened Layla would have been crushed. We just got each other back, and those, those things almost took me away from her again." Angela still didn't look up, but her hands closed into fists, bunching up the sheets between her fingers. "And it would be Shane's fault."

Daryl didn't know what to say or do as he watched the girl he came to think was rather brave and level headed crumble. She finally lifted her eyes to look at him, a few tears falling down her cheeks. She noticed how awkward Daryl had become as he watched her; he looked like he wanted to comfort her, but at the same time like he didn't want to touch her.

"The hell happened out there?" He finally asked. Angela looked down at the bed, noticing how close Daryl's hand was to her own, let alone how close she was sitting to him at this moment.

"We were searching for supplies, going from store to store. Everything was clear till the light started to fade, then one walker stumble its way through the door of the store we were in. I tried shooting it with my bow, but to be honest I haven't had much practice with it and my arrow landed in the walker's shoulder. Shane shot it before I could shoot another one or pull out my machete, and then yelled at me, before-"

"He yelled at you?" Daryl interrupted

"Yeah about my lousy shot. Anyways when we went to leave we saw a herd of walkers coming our way, I guess attracted to Shane's gunshot. I told Shane to get the car started and I'd hold them off but then I got shot. Shane saved me though and we made it out alive." Angela said a few more tears cascading down her cheeks as she let out a humorless laugh. "For a while I thought I was going to be walker dinner. Never to see Layla again, or you."

"Me?" Daryl asked incredulously. Angela nodded placing a hand over his; causing Daryl to try and pull his hand away, but she kept a hold on it. He eventually relaxed, letting her hold his hand as emerald green met blue and she explained.

"Daryl, you're the one who saved my sister, and the only one who showed any concern about me going on that run with Shane. Don't deny it either." She said knowing he would state he didn't care. "That means a lot to me and I really can't thank you enough." She said without really realizing she was leaning closer to him as she stared into his eyes.

She pressed her lips softly to his, her eyes fluttering shut. Daryl tensed up, not expecting her to kiss him, and for a moment he wasn't sure what to do, before he kissed her back.

He couldn't deny no matter how much he tried, he cared for the damn girl that stumbled into his life.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry if there's any typing and grammar mistakes. My Word Document program is no longer usable at this moment to use spell check and all that. I only had a trial and it ran out today. Why are things so expensive to buy. :/ Anyways hope y'all enjoy the chapter! :) Thanks so much for reading.**

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Angela had left Daryl that night after their kiss with a blush staining her cheeks and as she lay in her tent trying to let sleep take her, he invaded her thoughts. She had just kissed Daryl Dixon, the stubborn, selfish redneck. And he didn't push her away. She couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips while thinking about it.

The next morning she woke to voices outside her tent. At first she couldn't tell who the voices belonged to, just that they were talking about breakfast and she was sure she heard her name in their conversation, before Layla bounded into the tent.

"Oh good you're up!" She stated with a smile. "Lori and Carol told me to come get you and you'll never guess who's joining us for breakfast!" Angela gave her a questioning look.

"Who?" Deep down she hoped Sophia had found her way back to the group, but she prepared for disappointment for that hope.

"Daryl! He's able to walk around again!" Layla exclaimed and Angela could feel the blood rushing to her face as she thought back to last night, sure it was just a simple kiss they shared, but it made her head spin. She really had fallen for the hick.

"That's great! Let me just change and I'll be out there in a minute."

"Okie dokie!" Angela said running out of the tent.

Angela rifled through her bag finding a back tank top and threw it on, deciding to leave the shorts she had on last night, and headed outside. Everyone was around the little grill they set up already eating the breakfast Carol and Lori made. Running her eyes across the faces of her fellow survivors, Angela noticed a strange look in Shane's eyes as he stared at her and she sent a glare in return, and Rick would steal a glance towards Shane occasionally as he ate. What caught her eye most was where Layla was sitting, though it wasn't Layla she focused on, but the beautiful blue eyes that looked at her. Daryl's face was unreadable, but she knew there was something on his mind as he stared at her. Angela tore her gaze away to grab a plate from Carol, catching a look from Lori, and going to sit by her sister and the border collie that layer beside her.

Every camper went their ways once finishing their food, but once Angela ate she layed back on the ground enjoying the rays from the sun that managed to hit her through the trees. That was until someone kicked her foot. She opened her eyes expecting to see Layla, but found Daryl towered over her and have him a small smile.

"Can I help you?" He nodded his head as a motion to follow him.

"Come with me." He said turning around. "And bring your bow." Angela watched him walk off for a moment before running to her tent to grab her bow and arrows and wandering off to find Daryl who could walk quite fast for someone who got shot in the head and an arrow through his side.

She walked in the direction she saw him go off in, but saw no signs of him. She noticed Layla though, sitting at a table with Lori and Carl, and decided to go check on her.

"What's going on here?" She asked looking at the papers on the table. Carl looked up grimly at her.

"School." He stated simply and Layla nodded her agreement.

"Do you need me for anything Angie?" Layla asked hopefully.

"Sorry Princess, I think school is a good idea for you." Angela said with a smile as Layla looked down at her papers in defeat. "I was wondering if any of you saw Daryl though."

"He went in the direction of the stables, but I don't know exactly where he was heading." Lori said looking Angela in a way that Angela knew she wanted answers about what was going in between her and Daryl.

"Thanks." Angela said running off to the stables. When they came into view she saw the hick leaning against the side of the building with his arms crossed. A smile tugged at the corners of we mouth as she walked to him.

"What did you want me for?" She asked when she stood beside him. He just looked at her for a moment before his eyes wandered around them and he picked up his crossbow from the ground walking off towards the woods. Angela was skeptical about following him, but did so anyways.

Daryl didn't stop walking for a while and Angela could tell it was bothering his side with the way his hand would rest there, her leg was screaming its protest at the movement and weight as well. Damn Shane. Eventually Angela couldn't take the pain anymore, though she didn't want to show it, and called out to him as she leaned against a tree for support.

"Daryl we need to stop." He walked over to her watching her closely. "Why did you even lead me out here?"

"Ya wanna learn to use that bow of yours or not?" Daryl answered.

"You brought me out here to teach me how to use my bow?"

"Ya got a problem with that?" Daryl snapped, causing Angela to flinch slightly at his sudden outburst.

"We both should be off our feet is all, you especially."

"I'm fine, ya don' have to worry 'bout me." Daryl said taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. "Is, is your leg alrigh'?"

"Um it hurts, but I'm okay." Angela said surprised he asked.

"Think ya can walk a bit further? There's a clearin' just a lil further that I was takin' ya to." Angela nodded.

"Yeah I think I can manage that." She stepped away from the tree and limped after Daryl.

The clearing was closer than Angela had expected, but she was thankful for it. Her leg had begun to hurt even worse just walking the short distance and when she got the chance she sat under a tree and placed a hand by her wound, wishing the pain to go away.

"Ya alrigh'?" Daryl asked watching her carefully.

"Yeah, just hurts. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, probably shouldn't have brought ya out here."

"You shouldn't have come out either, but we're out here now so teach me." Angela said standing from her spot and walking to Daryl with her bow in hand.

"Alright nock an arrow and hit that tree over there." Angela did as told, but her arrow missed landing a few feet to the left. "Nock another one."

Angela listened and readied another as Daryl came up behind her. He placed a hand on her elbow of the arm pulling back the arrow, instructing her on how to keep her arms. Angela was trying to focus on what Daryl was saying, but the fact that he was standing close to her was difficult to ignore. After last night she wanted to be close to him, but now was the not the time to be thinking of that, she had to focus. Which was easier once Daryl backed away to let her shoot on her own after she successfully landed an arrow into the tree. Once she shot the rest of her arrows that hit her target she looked at Daryl with a smile.

"Thanks for doing this Daryl, you really didn't have to." She said walking over to him.

"Can't have ya gettin' killed cause ya can't shoot an arrow. Since you seem so keen on keeping it."

"It was my grandpa's then when he died he gave it to my dad. I had to bring it with me, I guess so I'd still have a part if him with me, same goes with my pistol." Angela said siting down by a tree again only this time Daryl joined her.

"Ya lose him when all this shit started?"

"Yeah he turned before I got home and then bit my mom when she tried to save me and my siblings." Angela said, sadness seeping into her voice. "Then when Layla went missing I lost my older brother, he got bit trying to protect us as well. I had to shoot them, my entire family."

"Shit I thought losin' my brother was bad. I'm sorry 'bout your family." Daryl said and Angela knew he truly meant it.

"Thanks, I've never really explained it to anyone before. It just hurt to much to even think about it, so I just focused on keeping Layla safe. What happened to your brother?"

"Got left on a run in Atlanta, cuffed on a roof. He had to cut his own hand off to escape and we never found him."

"Then maybe he got away, maybe he's alive."

"Told ya that hopin' and prayin' crap is a waste of time."

"Is that why you have Carol that rose saying it bloomed for her little girl? 'Cause having hope is pointless?" Daryl looked at her then a bit of shock on his features.

"Jus' thought it be nice ta give her some thin'. She did lose her girl after all."

"God Daryl you're so thick sometimes!" Angela exclaimed but then a smile graced her features as she looked down at her lap. "It was really sweet of you to give it to her. I feel useless 'cause I haven't been out there looking for her."

"Ya ain't useless." Daryl stayed making her look him in the eyes. "Ya have helped look for her, ya just can't right now 'cause of your leg."

"Yeah 'cause damn Shane had to go and shoot me. The hell is his problem, anyways?"

"Don't worry 'bout Shane, but don't ya ever go on another run with him. Not unless me or someone else is with ya." The two just looked at each other before Angela gathered the courage to reach up and peck his lips.

"We should probably grab your arrows and head back." Daryl said a bit awkwardly as he got up and reached a hand out to Angela.

They gathered her arrows, placing them back into the quiver, and began their way back. A silence draped over them for a while but Angela felt the need to speak.

"Daryl?" He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her as she walked up to him. "Thank you."

"For wha'?"

"For listening to my story, trusting me, teaching me how to use my bow. Just for being a good friend to me, and not pushing me away like I know I've done before." Angela confessed locking eyes with him. Daryl just nodded a ghost of a smile pulling at his lips. He began to walk away again, but turned around again.

"Just do me a favor, don't tell anyone 'bout last night, alrigh'?"

"I wasn't planning to, but why would it matter?"

"I just don't want people ta be gettin' the wrong ideas 'bout us."

"So there is an us?" Angela questioned unfamiliar hope rising within her.

"Not what I'm sayin'-"

"So you don't like me?" Her hope was quickly fading.

"No I-" Daryl was lost, he had no idea on how to deal with what he felt. He knew he wanted her to be safe, he cared about her more than anything. He didn't want to see her hurt, but he didn't know how to go about this situation. "Angel, I just don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I like ya, but I-"

"You don't want any sort of relationship with me besides being friends." Her voice was laced with sadness again, her hope gone.

"Not now, I don't know what I want." Daryl confessed running a hand through his hair, aggravated with the difficult situation before him.

"Okay, are you saying you need time to think things over or what? Daryl I'm confused."

"So am I." The fell quiet for a moment before Angela spoke.

"Damn I wish this shit was easier, to deal with." Angela said giving a small laugh.

"Yeah, let's just head back to camp 'fore everyone worries." Daryl said trying to change the subject.

"Right, and Daryl, ya think about what you want." Angela said taking the lead, but was her arm was grabbed and she was pushed in a different direction.

"Damn Angel, how'd you find your way alone, your sense of direction is terrible."

"I guess just pure dumb luck, and the need to find my sister."

The two shared a small laugh and after walking a ways they broke through the woods entering the farmland. They earned some pretty weird and suspicious looks from the campers, but neither one cared. They each had a friend in the other and enjoyed their day, and that's all that really mattered to them.


	15. Chapter 15

**Just finished working on a compare and contrast essay for my English class and thought I'd put up another chapter for y'all. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading, and to those who have reviewed, made this a favorite, and who are following this story, it means a lot to me. Now for chapter 15. :)**

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Angela and Layla were helping around the farm, tending to the animals. Layla had heard something about gun training while Angela was with Daryl the day before and now she was drilling Angela with questions. Pleading Angela to let her go and learn to shoot.

"Angela why won't you let me learn?!" Layla asked pausing from her work to look at her sister.

"Because you're ten Layla. You're not supposed to know how to use a gun, not supposed to need one." Angela argued as she finished up her work.

"But I do need one, Angie!"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. Finish up here then go to the RV and see if Carol could use your help." Angela stated walking off. She heard Layla scream, but she continued walking wishing her baby sister would drop the subject, but the truth was Layla was right.

Returning to the camp, Angela was lost in thought until she ran into someone. She looked up to see Glen holding a basket.  
**  
**"Sorry Glen, what's up?"

"Nothing why do you ask?" He questioned becoming really nervous.

"It was just a question Glen, calm down. Why are you so jumpy, is this still about Maggie?"

"Something like that." Glen answered. Angela just shrugged.

"Not gonna press for answers. So what's in the basket?"

"Peaches."

"Never been a fan of them, but need to eat something right." Angela said grabbing one of the fruit. "Has everyone else gotten some too?"

"Everyone except Layla and Daryl, oh and Andrea, but she's with Daryl." Glen said trailing off.

"Sounds like something's wrong with Daryl." Angela confronted.

"No, no, it's just, he kind of scares me sometimes." Glen admitted and Angela couldn't help the laugh that escaped. "It's not funny, he's got a temper and he's about twice my size, he could easily kick my butt."

"Sorry, just wasn't expecting you to say that." Angela chuckled then reached for the basket. "Here I'll go see if the big bad Dixon would like a peach, and can you do me a favor and grab one in case you run into Layla?"

"Only if you do me a favor in return." Glen countered, handing over the basket.

"What's that?"

"Don't tell anyone what I just told you." Glen said sheepishly.

"Deal, no one will know that you're afraid of Daryl." Angela smiled as Glen said his thanks and took the fruit, before heading towards Daryl's tent.

She saw Andrea leaving Daryl's tent, but stopped when his voice called out that 'if she ever shot him again, she best pray he's dead' and began walking away again.

"Andrea!" Angela said stopping the woman again.

"Hey Angela." Andrea said walking over and looking at the basket. "Glen leave you to take care of the food instead?"  
**  
**"I took it off his hands. Andrea I wanted to apologize for yelling at you when Daryl got shot."

"Don't worry about it, you were scared and worried, there's nothing to be sorry about." Andrea said taking a peach and walking off with an odd smile. Angela stood there for a moment staring after her until she heard Layla yell her name, and she slipped into Daryl's tent.

"Hey." Angela said siting down beside him and placing the basket in front of her. "Thought you might want something to eat, hope you like peaches."

"Thanks." Daryl said discarding the arrow he had and grabbing one of the fruit. Angela kept gazing around, stealing glances outside of the tent, her eyes never settling on one place for very long. "You alrigh'?" Her eyes fell on him.

"Yeah, just trying to stay away from Layla for a bit."

"That's weird, usually you don't want her ta leave your sight." Daryl noted, taking a bite out of the peach.

"I know, I just need time to think."

"'Bout wha'?"

"Gun training." Angela stated running a hand through her hair. "She wants to learn how to use a gun, and I just can't stand it."

"Why not, she needs to learn, needs to know how to protect herself if she gets caught alone like she was when I found her." Daryl stated what Angela didn't want to be reminded of.

"I know, I want her to be safe and I know I can't always be there to protect her. God I hate what the world's become." Angela said her voice cracking towards the end. "I guess I should let her learn, but I just can't get the fact that she's my little sister out of my head."

"When did you learn?"

"I wasn't much older than her, but it's different; it's not an animal or target she's learning to shoot for, it's creatures that used to be human." She said staring at the floor of the tent.

"Angel," she looked up at him again. "The world's gone to shit and we can't change that, she needs to learn." Daryl said.

"You're right Daryl. She needs to know, I still don't like it, but she's got to learn." Angela agreed. The tent fell quiet for a moment, it was a comfortable silence, but it didn't last long when Layla appeared through the entrance I the tent and crossed her arms, giving Angela her best glare.

"Carl gets to learn to shoot, I want to as well." She stated and Angela nodded.

"And you will." Layla's glare turned to a look of shock.

"Really?" When Angela replied 'yes' Layla hugged her sister quickly with a smile warming her face.

"You have to understand that, it's not a toy and will only be used for emergencies only." Angela order. "You have to be serious and mature."

"Of course, you don't have to worry Angie, I will be. Thank you."

There was quite a group of people at the area they traveled to. Not only did Rick's group go for gun training but some of Hershel's people joined the crew as well. Shane explained that when you point a gun at someone, you've got to mean it as well as some other important gun training tips and instructions. Then he allowed the first shot to be fired.

Carl listened as Shane instructed him on how to shoot. Taking careful aim Carl shot, didn't quite hit his target but he still smiled at Shane and his parents who stood behind him.

Soon everyone was shooting at a variety of bottles and cans that rested on the fence in front of them. Angela smiled as she helped Layla hold pistol that was once their father's before allowing her to shoot. She looked away when she heard T-Dog say something to Jimmy, one of Hershel's people.

"Come on man, don't give me that gangster shit." He said watching as Jimmy tried shooting with the gun held sideways in one hand.

"T's right, you'll never hit your target holding the gun like that, and if you did it would be pure luck. You'll have better aim holding it with both hands." Angela said showing him how to hold it.

He shot again, knocking the can over and smiled his thanks at Angela, who returned it before going back to supervising Layla's practice.

"You might want to practice as well." Shane said coming up to Angela. "Especially after what happened the other day."

"Then shouldn't you practice as well, I mean you are the one that shot me rather than your target. I at least hit the walker I was aiming at, and that was with my bow that I missed its head, I did perfectly fine with my gun." That pissed Shane off, he pulled his gun and aimed it at one of the bottles, breaking it.

"See I can aim perfectly fine." Shane hissed ignoring the complains from Layla about him breaking the bottle she was trying to shoot.

"Yep, looks like you can hit your target just fine." Angela stated a dark undertone in her voice. Shane gave her a strange, slightly nervous look before continuing down the line.

Gun training went on for a while longer, Layla and Carl both doing extremely well for this being the first time they used a gun. Angela was proud of her little sister, though the thought of her having a gun made her uneasy, but she pushed it away focusing on the happy smile that was painted on her talkative little sister.

Layla wouldn't stop talking the whole drive back to the farm, and everyone in the car around her smiled and gave her encouraging words. Angela could see how much her young sister had grown in such a short amount if time. Though she was still innocent, she knew how to be mature and take things serious and Angela could only imagine her parents seeing Layla right now and hoped they'd be proud of her, of both of them.

Tears pricked her eyes as they pulled up to the familiar campsite. Layla ran off to go talk to Carl and a few of the other campers similar smiles on her's and Carl's faces. Angela smiled briefly at the two before wandering slowly through the tents, lost in her own thoughts, and a few tears falling down her cheeks.

"Angel." A gruff voice called out. Angela turned noticing she was walking right past Daryl's tent and his gorgeous blue eyes were trained on her. She wiped at her face before giving him a small smile and going to sit beside him in his tent.

"Hey hick." Angela said softly. "Enjoying your day of relaxing?" Daryl scoffed.

"Should be searching for Sophia not laying around here, but I'd rather not have the old man yell at me 'gain. Was fuckin' annoying."

"Well I did tell you we shouldn't have gone out there." Angela laughed lightly, her smile not as bright as usual.

"You alrigh'?" Daryl asked genuinely concerned.

"Yeah find just thinkin'."

"Layla do good today?" Angela was glad he dropped it, but also knew he probably didn't really like caring and listening to others problems.

"Yeah she did, Carl did as well. I think my parents would have been proud of Layla today."

"Yeah I'm sure. Ya miss 'em don' ya." Daryl stated more than asked.

"Yeah, I do." Angela said sadly but decided she didn't want to talk about that anymore. "How old are you Daryl?"

"Wha'?" Daryl asked confused at the sudden change of topic.

"Sorry, I know that was random, but how old are you?"

"Thirty five. You?" Daryl said starting to catch on to the topic change.

"Twenty six"

"God you're young." Daryl said a smirk pulling at his lips.

"Shut up! It's not that young!" Angela exclaimed hitting his arm and laughing some before looking down at the tent floor. "Ya know Daryl, you've changed."

"Wha d'ya mean?"

"You've become kind, you're not completely pushing me away anymore. It's nice." Angela said meeting his gaze.

"Yeah well ya tell anyone 'n' I won' be so nice anymore." Daryl warned.

"Yeah, yeah I know." Angela said with a wave of her hand and smiling at the redneck beside her that she was falling in love with.

The two spent the rest of the day talking and by the time dinner was over they were the last two to leave the campfire. Daryl walked with her to her tent where Angela reached up and kissed his cheek. He stiffened a bit, still not used to the affection, but nodded in her direction, bidding her goodnight, and walked back to his own tent. Angela smiled at his retreating back before slipping into her tent and going to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Still don't have a word document right now so I apologize for any typos that are in the chapters. I'm not a fan of the spell check on here, just bare with me please. Hope you all are enjoying my story. Let me know what you think! :)**

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Angela woke to Layla gently shaking her arm the next morning with a smile on her face.

"Come on Angie, breakfast is ready!"

"I'm up, I'm up." Angela said closing her eyes again.

"No you're not, you're just saying that, come on. Don't you wanna go see Daryl?" Layla accused causing Angela to look at her now fully awake.

"What makes you think I want to see Daryl?"

"So you don't want to see him?" Layla asked confused.

"That's not what I meant." Angela tried to explain, but in truth, she didn't know how. She didn't know what to say.

"Angie I'm confused." Layla admitted and Angela let out a small chuckle.

"So am I, let's just go eat and forget this conversation alright?" Layla nodded her response as Angela got dressed and the two made their way to the campfire.

Layla ran ahead of Angela, darting up to the lawn chair Daryl sat in and talking to him. Angela glanced around the camp, taking in every solemn face and the one nervous expression.

Glen; something had been bothering him for a while and though he just said it was an argument with Maggie, Angela knew there was more than meets the eye to this story, but she refused to press knowing he'd spill his secrets sooner or later.

Angela accepted a plate of eggs from Carol and walked towards the lawn chair. She met Daryl's eyes for a moment giving him a small smile and a nod that he returned before sitting down between his chair and the log that Carl sat on. She noticed Glen look around the group before standing up.

"Hey guys," he began, looked like he his secret was gunna be told sooner rather than later. He hesitated as every eye landed on him. "The barn's full of walkers."

Everyone was shocked at what Glen revealed and was soon gathered around in front of the barn doors. Shane looked through the gap in the door seeing the dead that stumbled on the other side, before turning and storming to Rick.

"You can not tell me that you're okay with this."

"No I'm not, but this isn't our land." Rick stated.

"But this is our lives man!" Shane countered, knowing that if the walkers managed to break free than everyone would be in danger.

Everyone kept putting their opinions into the argument; Lori agreed with Rick, Andrea said that it couldn't be overlooked, Angela saw truth in everyone's arguments, but knew that Rick's was the morally right one. This was Hershel's land, his barn, only he can deal with this or give the group the okay to.

"We've been talking about Fort Bennington for a long time." Shane started but Rick interrupted.

"We can't go!"

"Why Rick, why?" Shane questioned. Angela just watched him from her spot beside Carol and Andrea, he knew that the group was happy here, that most weren't giving up the search that was going on.

"Because my daughter's still out there." Carol spoke up and Shane let out an agitated sigh.

"Look Carol, there's probably a good chance that she's already dead. I think we need to go ahead and start accepting that possibility."

"We're close to findin' this little girl!" Daryl started walking around as he spoke. "I jus' found her damn doll a few days ago."

"That's it Daryl you found a doll, nothing more." Shane said and that set Daryl off.

"Man you don't know what the hell you're talkin' about!"

"I'm just saying what needs to be said, and let me just say something else. If she saw you out there all methed out with a necklace of geek ears she'd run!"

Daryl was pissed now, he rushed forward trying to punch Shane, who was also trying to hit Daryl, but Rick and many others were shouting at them and pushing them apart. Finally they stopped their attacks, but both men were still furious. Angela who had been quiet this entire time finally spoke up.

"We can't give up on Sophia, Shane! Daryl found the her doll which is the first solid evidence we've had." When Shane's eyes fell on her, she wished she hadn't of spoken.

"What do you know, huh?" He began, walking towards her. His eyes flashing angrily, Angela stood her ground. "What would you know about evidence, leads, or anything? What would you know about Sophia?" He asked standing mere inches from Angela, who could do nothing more than stare at him.

"She's important to this group, to Carol, and my sister."Angela managed to say softly.

"That's all you know isn't it. Angela I told you the first day, it was dumb of you to put your life on the line for a girl you don't even know. You don't even know what she looks like. You're just a dumb girl, who wanted to be accepted into the group." Shane said turning to walk away, but Angela shoved him causing him to stumble.

"You don't know me Shane, hell you probably would have let me die that night you shot me if it wasn't for Layla! You don't know, what I've been through since the world's gone to shit, so don't talk all high and mighty when you don't know a damn thing!" Angela yelled. She saw Shane come towards her again, knowing he was probably ready to kill her.

"You stupid little-" He began mumbling through clenched teeth as he shoved her back. He would have done more, but Daryl shoved him away.

"Ya leave 'er alone!"

"Figures you'd come to her rescue." Angela grabbed Daryl's wrist before he could go after Shane again, he glanced at her before ripping his arm away and began pacing again.

"If we want to stay and clean out the barn, I've got to talk to Hershel. This is his land." Rick stated as the commotion began to die down.

"He sees those things as people, his wife and stepson." Dale revealed.

"You knew?"

"I found out yesterday, and talked to Hershel."

"And you didn't tell anyone?!" Shane hollered.

"I thought we could last one more night and we did. I was going to tell everyone, but Glen wanted to be the one to do it."

"Still I'll talk to Hershel and try to figure something out. We just have to stay calm." Rick said walking off towards the house ending the argument.

Everyone went their separate ways after that. Angela saw Lori lead Layla and Carl back to camp with Samantha following close behind and decided that she'd take a walk around the land to escape the group for a little while.

Her mind was going over everything that happened since the outbreak. The panic at her college, her parents dying, Layla disappearing, Jamie, then went to what happened at the barn and all the commotion. A few tears fell down her face but not many, she was tired of crying and she knew it wouldn't bring her family back or protect Layla.

Angela was brought out of her thoughts when she heard something fall and yelling, she noticed she was by the stables. She saw Daryl leave the stables in a hurry, holding his side, and knew he had probably tried to go find Sophia again and somebody stopped him, he was on stubborn son of a bitch that's much was sure, but Angela wondered who was the one to tell him differently.

Her question was short lived when Carol came out of the stables. Angela slid closer to the barn, hoping not to be noticed as Carol went back to camp. When the short haired woman didn't even glance in Angela's direction she stepped away from the wall and began walking in the direction Daryl stormed off in.

She walked around the farm trying not to seem like she was following him, allowing him to leave her sight. Thankfully she recalled her father teaching her a little about tracking when they were on a hunting trip when she was younger and saw from Daryl's trail that he walked into the woods. Continuing to follow his footsteps, she came to an opening in the trees that held a small lake with a dock leading over the water a short ways. At the end of the dock sat the man she was looking for.

"Hey." She called softly as she carefully walked across the dock towards him. He turned around to look at who called out to him before looking back out over the water.

"What d'ya want?" He asked anger still coursing through him, but not as much as it had been at the barn.

"You alright." She asked a few steps behind him.

"Fine, get back ta the house." Silence stretched between them as Angela looked at him, and glancing around the clearing. She took a breath before reaching down to quietly slip off the boots she wore and join him at the edge of the dock.

"Thought I told ya-"

"I know what you told me, but you're not in charge of me Daryl. I'm a big girl who can make decisions for herself, no matter how young you think I am."

"Yer twenty five, ya ain't no kid." Daryl said not completely sure of how he should respond to her statement.

"Then don't order me around like one, when my decision is to sit here with you and make sure you're alright."

"Told ya I was fine." Daryl stated.

"Sure ya are." Angela said then let her curiosity get the best of her. "What happened today at the stables between you and Carol?"

"The hell do you know 'bout that?" Daryl questioned.

"I just heard something fall, and yelling. Then I saw you leave holding your side and a few moments later Carol walked out looking upset. I swear I want was eavesdropping, I had gone for a walk and had no idea there was anyone in there." Angela rambled, and Daryl made a noise that she wasn't sure was a supposed to be a laugh or scoff.

"There ya go worryin' 'gain." Daryl said looking down at the water. "Was tryin' to go search in' 'gain, but Carol she didn' want me to."

"Why wouldn't she? This is her daughter you're looking for."

"Said I get hurt, that we didn' know if we'd find 'er."

"She's losing hope." Angela said sadly.

"Guess so, she also said somethin' like she couldn' lose me too." Daryl recalled with a strange tone to his voice. Angela could tell he wasn't used to people caring about him.

"I can see where she's coming from I guess." Daryl gave her a strange look causing Angela to laugh lightly. "I just mean, you're important to the group. You helped protect them, feed them from what I understand hearing Glen saying he's thankful for not having to eat squirrels."

"Damn chinaman doesn't know how ta be thankful for what food he gets." Daryl mumbled.

"He's Korean for one, and just cause he doesn't like eating the squirrels doesn't mean he wasn't thankful for food." Angela chucked. "Anyways, as I was saying, you've also been out there every damn day searching for Sophia. That means a lot to Carol and everyone else. So that's why she doesn't want to lose you, your someone important to her. To me as well, I don't want to lose you either." Angela spoke quietly at the end, refusing to look anywhere but at Daryl's face.

"Why, why do I mean so much ta ya?" Daryl asked confused.

"You're the only one I feel has really accepted the fact that Im apart if the group now and wanting to help out. I don't know how to explain it Daryl. I just feel... Safe around you. I don't know." They fell into silence again, neither one knowing what to say next.

Angela looked down at their feet, hating the awkward silence that pursued. Daryl's feet were fully submerged in the water while hers just barely went under the surface.

"Hey Daryl," she began, desperately wanting to break the silence. "Do you think I'm too short?" Her sudden question caused him to bite back a laugh, Angela smiled. "Sorry that was random."

"S'fine, why ya askin'?" He said looking down at the water where their feet were.

"Couldn't stand the quiet, needed to get you to say something to me." Angela confessed.

"Ya are pretty short." Daryl shrugged.

"I know I hate my height, alway have. I wanted to be taller, not extremely tall but taller than 5'3."

"Wouldn't let it bother ya. Ya worry to much as it is." Daryl stated and Angela looked up into his blue eyes.

"Guess I do, can't help it though." Angela said breaking her eye contact to look around the clearing again. She noticed a bush a little ways from the dock behind them and with the bush was a very familiar white flower. "Daryl that plant over there." Angela pointed. "Is that the flower you brought Carol a while ago?"

"Looks like it." Daryl answered.

Angela stood from her spot, grabbed her boots and wandered over to the plant. She delicately touched the white petals, not sure of what this type if flower was. She stood there for a second admiring it before looking to Daryl who stood beside her.

"Do you know what type of flower it is?"

"Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians on the Trail of Tears, the mothers were cryin' and grievin' about losing the little ones along the way. So the elders said a prayer askin' for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength, hope. And the next day, this rose started to grow where the mothers' tears fell."

"That's a good story." Angela stated softly, she had been staring at the flower as he spoke and finally looked up at Daryl. "Did you tell Carol that when you gave her that flower?" Daryl nodded.

"Yeah." Angela smiled softly at him before looking back at the flowers.

"You should show Carol this. Maybe it will give her hope again, that Sophia's okay."

"Ya really think I should?" Daryl asked suddenly sounding a bit nervous. Angela turned to him, taking a step closer and reaching up to kiss his cheek.

"Yeah I think you should."

Angela and Daryl walked back to camp together after that. Upon seeing Carol, Daryl faltered in his steps wondering if he really should take her out to see the flowers. Angela noticed his behavior right away.

"Hey Carol can you come here a minute?" Angela called out. She glanced at Daryl seeing his uncertainness about the situation. "Just show her the flowers and come back to camp, that's all you've gotta do." She whispered to him.

"Is something up?" Carol said eyeing the two carefully.

"Daryl just has something to show you, that's all." Angela said with a sweet smile, before walking off and towards Layla. She truly hoped everything would be okay.

Angela was sitting on the porch with Layla, Samantha, and Beth watching Carl play checkers with Patricia. Maggie and Glen sat on the steps talking until T-Dog and Andrea came up and the commotion began.

No one knew where Rick was; he disappeared with Hershel when he was supposed to go on the search for Sophia with Andrea. Not too far into the discussion, Carol and Daryl joined in. Daryl was pissed at the poor determination for the search.

"Isn't anybody taking this serious?! We've got us a damn trail ta follow!" He exclaimed as he threw his arms around angrily. His eyes landed on Shane walking towards the group. "Here we go." Shane had a shotgun in hand, giving it to Daryl and passing out the rest of the guns.

"Can you shoot?" He asked when he came to Maggie.

"Can you stop. If you pass out these guns my dad will make you leave." She threatened.

"Shane you can't do this." Angela said leaving the porch, he shoved her gun in her hand.

"This is how it has to be if you wanna protect Layla." He said to her before speaking to the rest. "If we wanna live we've got to take matters into our own hands and protect ourselves, the ones we care about." He walked past Angela and to Carl giving him a gun as well until Lori stepped in. Their argument didn't last long once T-Dog diverted everyone's attention.

Rick was walking out of the woods with Jimmy and Hershel, accompanied by two walkers. Everyone ran to the three men, trying to grasp what was going on, why everything seemed to be falling apart as chaos began taking over. Shane began arguing with Hershel at first then Rick stepped in.

"Shane just back off, then we can talk."

"What's there to talk about, you're holding things that are trying to kill us! They're not sick they're gone and I ain't gonna feel nothing for them, because all they do is kill!" Shane shouted. "They killed Amy! They killed Otis! That's all they do!" Shane pulled out his gun pointing it at the walker Hershel held, that was once a woman.

"Hershel, does a living breathing person just walk away from this?" Three rounds were shot into the walkers chest. Shane kept talking as he shot another couple of bullets into the thing's lungs. Then another into its heart. "It's not alive, it's dead and it's gonna kill us."

"Shane enough!" Rick shouted.

"Yeah that's right man, that is enough." Shane killed the walker and ran to the barn. He was constantly shouting about the situations at hand and the walkers, antagonizing the ones inside the barn as he broke the chain and removed the board blocking it.

Angela pushed Layla back towards Lori and Carl as she joined the line that began forming as walkers filed out of the barn. She aimed her gun quickly but carefully and shot as many freaks as she could. She felt sorry for killing these, only because Hershel's thoughts on the outbreak, but she had to protect Layla and the group so she shot off every bullet she could.

Soon the walkers stopped their assault and everyone lowered their weapons. Angela looked around at the bodies; everyone of them meant something to the Greene family and they just killed them. Angela heard the footsteps coming up behind her and turned slightly to see Layla and Samantha stop a few steps away from her.

Everything was calm for a moment until Samantha stepped forward protectively, watching the barn as a deep growl escaped her. Angela's focus snapped back to the barn as a shoe appeared in the door. What used to be a young girl stepped out; her clothes worn and torn, a bite mark from one of the walkers apparent on her neck, and her eyes were lifeless. Angela had never seen this girl before, but when no guns were raised and Carols cries were heard, she knew exactly who this child was. Sophia.

Out of the corner of her eye, Angela saw Daryl stop Carol from rushing to the living corpse that was once her daughter. She hated this day, all hope for this eleven year old girl was gone, shattered by Shane's outburst. The search was over and everyone's worst fears were confirmed.

"Sophia." Layla's broken voice spoke out as she walked forward.

Angela dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around her baby sister as Rick walked up to the decaying body of Sophia. He waited for a moment with the gun aimed at her and Angela could only imagine what ran through his mind before the shot rang out.

Layla burst into tears and Angela went to bring her closer, but she pushed away and glared at her, tears streaming down her face.

"You told me we'd find her, you and Daryl both and I believed the two of you!"

"Layla, sweetie I'm so sorry. I really thought we would." Angela said pathetically, she knew that no words would comfort her sister.

"First mommy and daddy, then Jamie, now Sophia. You couldn't save any of them! How are you gunna be able to protect me!?" Layla cried "Its hopeless isn't it?" She took off towards the house then and in that moment with tears falling down Angela's face she realized how heartbroken and grown her baby sister was.


	17. Chapter 17

"It's hopeless isn't it?"

That question rang through Angela's head as she stared where her little sister once stood. She couldn't believe those words left her sister. Had Sophia's death taken the last of her hope and caused her to give up?

Angles jumped when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see T-Dog standing behind her, a sorrowful look on his face. She gave what she hoped was a smile in return, but knew it probably came out a grimace instead. Giving her shoulder a squeeze, he left her to her thoughts.

Angela looked around, her eyes swiftly going over the dead bodies that littered the ground and scanning her fellow group of survivors. Hershel's family were mourning, and everyone bore a somber expression. She noticed across the group that Daryl was trying to get Carol to look away from the horrific scene before them as he brought her feet, but she shoved him away and began to rush to the safety of the camp.

Angela watched Carol's retreating form until she was almost out of sight. Letting a sigh pass her lips, Angela rose from the ground and followed Carol's lead to camp. She stopped halfway when she heard screams erupt, but she turned away when she noticed it was being handled and continued on her way.

The camp was empty, but Angela knew Carol was here, where else could she have gone. Then she saw it, a silhouette in the window of the RV, that's where Carol withdrew to.

Angela walked to the side of the vehicle and took a deep breath before carefully walking up the steps. Carol glanced back at Angela for a moment before staring back out the window, while Angela took a seat across from her.

"Shouldn't you be with Layla?" Carol asked softly, evidence of her tears on her face and in her voice.

"Samantha's with her so she's safe, besides I don't think she wants to see me right now." Angela replied "Carol, I'm so sorry about Sophia."

The two fell in silence then, neither knowing exactly what to say about the situation. They didn't sit long by themselves though before they were joined by another; Daryl walked into the RV. Carol turned briefly, much like she did with Angela, and caught Daryl's nod before looking away and sniffling. Angela on the other hand kept his gaze for a moment while he jumped up on the counter. That's when Angela saw something beside him.

She stood from her seat and reached over towards where the redneck was sitting, smirking slightly when he flinched away out of fear that Angela was going to show some sort of affection towards him in front of Carol. He relaxed some when he realized that instead of taking his hand that rested on the counter, she grabbed the box of tissues instead taking one for herself and placing the box on the table close to Carol is she needed it.

No words were spoken between the three companions as Angela and Daryl sat by, trying to offer comfort to the grieving mother with their presence alone. Angela didn't know what to do as she sat there with her eyes wondering around the RV's interior and every so often landing I the hick she was falling for, finding his gaze to land on her from time to time as well. The silence was ended after a while when a tap on the door sounded and Lori walked up.

"They're ready for the funeral."

"Why should I go?" Carol asked.

"'Cause that's your lil girl." Daryl answered and Carol shook her head looking around at the three.

"My daughter died a long time ago." She began, her voices laced with the pain and sorrow of losing her child. "She wasn't out there crying herself to sleep or going cold and hungry. That corpse is a monster, not my little girl."

"But it was at one point." Angela blurted unable to take the words coming from the grieving mother. "That may just be a lifeless corpse out there, but at one point it was a smiling little girl that you loved dearly. That's why you should go to the funeral, not because we're burying a corpse, but because that used to be Sophia. Please Carol, go for her." Angela begged, Carol refused to listen though and simply shook her head, looking out the window again.

Angela let out a loud sigh before standing from her spot. She looked at Carol sadly before turning to look at the other two. Lori walked away, so Angela's eye landed on Daryl as tears began to form. Daryl nodded towards the door.

"C'mon Angela." He said barely audible as he slid off the counter. Angela took a few steps towards the door and passed Daryl, bit looked back at Carol in hope that she would change her mind. Daryl placed an unusually gentle hand on Angela's back ushering her out the door.

The ceremony was simple, a few meaningful words were said about the lost loved ones. Angela noticed Layla standing by Carl and Lori not even taking a moment to glance her way. She wasn't going to lie, Layla ignoring her hurt, but she knew she'd come around, she hoped anyways.

The day seemed to go by rather quick and seemed too pretty for one full of such sorrow. Carol remained to herself, not wanting to speak to anyone, Layla had stayed with Carl rather than looking for her sister. There was an argument between Rick and Shane, the two friends disagreeing on everything and tension rising only adding to the events of the day. Everyone else in the camp went about chores, just trying to keep their minds occupied. Angela had wondered around camp for a while, but finally decided that washing clothes and cooking weren't going to clear her mind, so she strode past the tents, taking notice that the redneck's tent was empty, and strayed off towards the stables.

She stayed there feeding and tending to the horses, the animals giving her a sense of ease as she fed them. She never grew up on a farm, but a friend of hers had horses and allowed Angela to come to his stables anytime she wanted and Angela found comfort in tending to the horses' needs. She didn't realize how much time passed until a worried Glenn showed up.

"There you are!"

"Yeah, what's up Glenn?" She asked concern filling her at his uptight state.

"Have you seen Hershel?" Angela shook her head with an apology. "He's missing, no one can find him and something's up with Beth. She's in shock or something and we need him!" Angela walked forward and looked up at her friend.

"He just up and left?" She questioned having troubles believing that he would leave when his daughters needed him to be there for him in their time of loss, just as much as he probably needed them.

"I don't know, let's just get back to the house and see what's being done."

The two ran back to the house only for it to be decided that Glenn would leave with Rick to find Hershel and the two would bring the father back.

Angela stood on the porch just out of earshot of the couple by the steps. Glenn looked awkward and nervous as Maggie spoke to him and when he turned to leave Maggie's expression was unreadable before she turned and went to her sister's side again. Angela followed her into the house, but went to the kitchen to help clean and prepare for dinner that night.

After hours passed, daylight slowly faded as dinner was finished. Everyone gathered around the table; Carol, who was now helping out again so soon, placed a basket on the table and walked to the doorway calling for Lori.

"She's not in there." Maggie stated. That started conversation quick, Shane took the authority he could while Rick was away.

"Carl when's the last time you saw your mother?"

"This afternoon." Carl answered confusion and worry showing on his young face.

"She asked me to look in on Carl." Andrea spoke and that's when Shane rose from his seat and headed outside towards the tents, shortly followed by the rest.

Carol vanished for a while, unnoticed, as everyone debated what could have happened, but soon brought us information from the lone Dixon. The answer was clear then, Lori went after Rick.

Shane hopped in the Hyundai and took off after Lori, leaving everyone panicked and worried. Carl had walked off upon hearing the news, closely followed by Layla, Andrea, and the faithful Border Collie, and everyone else dispersed slowly.

Carol walked back towards the way she came, back to where Daryl was. Angela had failed to see the man after the funeral and walked through the tents, keeping a close eye on the woman. She lost focus for a moment when she came to a gap amongst the row of tents, the exact place where Daryl's once stood and she didn't remember seeing his bike by the cars either. Angela knew immediately that he was separating himself and she couldn't take it.

Angela regained her focus and bolted off towards where she saw Carol last. It just seemed like one terrible thing after the other, first Sophia dying and the funeral, Layla ignoring her, Beth in shock, Hershel missing, Lori taking off on her own, and now Daryl keeping away from the group. If things weren't bad enough already, Angela was shocked to hear raised voices as she moved along the trees an keeping to the shadows. She learned recently that Daryl's temper could get the best of him and she was afraid for Carol, if Daryl would lash out at her with more than just words.

The brunette stopped behind a tree close to the small camp set up. She saw Carol standing her ground as the two argued, Daryl pacing as anger coursed through him. Carol kept egging him on, she wanted him to get all his anger out. He started yelling again and it seemed like the quarrel would never end, but a risky move ceased everything. Daryl had taken a step towards Carol with his hand raised and only refrained from slapping her when she flinched causing him to realize what he was doing.

Carol left then, and Angela just watched from the shadows of the trees. Neither one of them had noticed her, and she considered going back to camp instead of going to talk to him. He didn't know of her presence anyhow. Just as she turned away from the tree to head back, he proved her wrong.

"I know yer there Angel."


	18. Chapter 18

Angela froze when he called out to her. She had been noticed after all. She turned and slowly made her way to the towering form of Daryl.

"Hey." She said softly, nervous about how he was going to react.

"The hell were you doin' over there?!" He yelled gesturing to the tree she stood behind moments ago.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just wanted to come talk to you. Ya know, see how you are with everything that's happened. Then I saw you and Carol." Angela rambled.

"Would ya jus' shut up?" Angela stopped and stared at Daryl expecting him to say something else. He didn't speak though. He let out an annoyed breath, running his hands down his face and going to sit on a log by the fire. Angela stood there for a moment just watching him, and when he still didn't speak, decided that she would.

"Would you have gone through with it?" She asked quietly.

"What ya mean?" Daryl asked staring into the fire.

"Hit her. Would you have really done it if she hadn't flinched away or it it was someone else who didn't just lose her daughter?"

"No, ain't gunna hit a woman."

"That's good to know." Angela said, finally gathering to courage to walk over and join him by the fire. "I can't believe she was in there the entire time. I'm so sorry."

"Why are ya apologizin' to me?"

"'Cause even though she wasn't your kid, your problem, you still risked your life to find her. You tried to keep her safe. You're a good person, Daryl."

Silence fell over the two as they watched the flames dance over the logs. Occasionally one would steal a glance at the other, but no words were exchanged for a while. Until Angela allowed a sad sigh to escape and her shoulders slump as her head fell into her hands.

"Layla hates me." She stated.

"She don't hate ya." Daryl replied easily.

"And how do you know?" Angela snapped. "You've been moving your camp, and avoiding everyone! My sister won't even look in my direction, she's stayed by Carl's and Lori's sides. She won't even give me a chance to be close to her and talk to her." Her voice wavered at the end and tears clouded her vision as she looked at Daryl. His normally stoic face showing just how much the day had affected him; he looked worn, sad, and allowed Angela to see that he did care no matter how much he denied it.

"She's hurt. She truly thought we'd find Sophia alive, we both reassured her of that, but we were wrong and she just needs time to figure out this shit on her own." Daryl stated.

"I can't stand her being mad at me, not in this world anyways. She's the only family I've got left, and she thinks I won't keep her safe, alive."

"But ya will."

"Daryl, what if I can't though? What if one of those things get to her before I can save her?" Panic began to rise in Angela and the tears she was holding back began streaming down her face at the thought of one of the walkers tearing into her little sister. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Angel, ya will be able to keep her safe. The whole group will help ya with that."

"That includes you as well, right?" Daryl watched Angela's face for a moment. He knew his answer, he'd die to keep that little girl safe, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he'd die for Angela, for her safety.

"Yeah." He said simply with a nod of his head.

"Thank you Daryl. I'm not sure what I'd do without you in this group." Angela said her green eyes looking into his beautiful blues. Her gaze slipped down his face to his lips for a second before returning to his eyes. She leaned in before she chickened out and pressed her lips to his; just like their first kiss he stiffened at first and then kissed her back.

Angela wouldn't dare tell anyone, but she liked when she got to be alone with Daryl. He'd open up some, his defenses slowly crumbling, and she'd see a softer side of the hunter. Not to mention she enjoyed being close to him, she'd never really had a relationship before the world ended, and the fact that she fell for someone during a hell like the one they were living frightened her, but she was glad that since she did, it was with Daryl. He's able to protect and fend for himself in a world like theirs, and even though he built walls, behind them was a kind person who truly did care about those surrounding him, maybe not all, but he'd protect those who needed it.

Headlights and the sound of a car in the distance brought the two apart. They turned their attention towards the noise for a second before looking back at each other, a fairly noticeable blush covering Angela's cheeks.

"I guess Shane found Lori, or Rick and Glenn have brought Hershel back." Angela breathed looking back towards where the camp was.

"Doesn't really matter right now." Daryl said his eyes never leaving Angela's face that turned to look at him with a slightly shocked expression.

"Of course it matters, Daryl. This is our group, we've gotta watch out for each other."

"Jus' 'cause the dumb bitch went off on her own doesn't mean I didn't hope she come back safe."

"Yeah you sound like you really care about Lori." Angela said sarcastically, she tried to hide it, but couldn't help the smirk that pulled at her lips.

"Ya know how I feel 'bout all that carin' and worryin' shit." Daryl groaned.

"You do worry and care and you know it, you just don't like to show it."

"Sure whatever makes ya happy."

"I know you care, at least about the kids in this group, and about Carol, and I think you care about me as well." Angela said her voice softening at the end.

"Yeah and how do ya know that?" Daryl challenged, a bit amused that Angela was so confident about him caring.

"You saved my sister and you searched endlessly for Sophia and I'm sure you'd do the same for Carl. As for Carol, you, again, risked your life for Sophia, you stopped Carol from running to Sophia's corpse, and you stayed in the RV with her trying to give her some sort of comfort just like I was." Angela listed confidently.

"And what about you? Since you're so determined I care about ya." Daryl said a smirk forming on his lips. Angela wasn't so confident with her speech anymore, but she continued none the less.

"Well, you led me to my sister after answering all my questions about her, and back at that church you asked me if I was alright and about when I froze facing that walker, I think you were going to save me if I didn't move when I did. Then when I was falling after getting your arrow back, you caught me. You taught me how to shoot my bow, not to mention you were pretty pissed about that situation with Shane shooting me. Also you kiss me, I know we're in a shitty world but I doubt you kiss me just because you haven't had a girl with you in a long time."

"Ya could be wrong. I might just be using ya." Daryl said, though it wasn't true.

"I doubt it, not with how awkward you act at times. I really do think you care, Daryl, but you don't have to admit it to me if you don't want to. You should at least admit it to yourself, rather than keep telling yourself that you don't." Angela stated looking off towards the camp again. "Anyways I'm gonna see who returned to camp." She announced standing up and starting to walk off in the direction of the camp.

"Angel wait." Daryl said following closely behind. Angela stopped by the trees and turned towards him watching him approach her till they were mere inches apart. "Ya told me ta think 'bout what I want right?"

"Yeah." Angela said not quite sure which direction this was headed, but she noticed that Daryl seemed rather nervous.

"Thought, ya know, maybe we can try this relationship thing out."

"Ya sure about this, 'cause you don't have to make a decision right now Daryl. I can wait or we don't have to-" Angela would have continued but Daryl stopped her nervous ramble by roughly pressing his lips to hers as his hand held the back of her head.

"Didn't know how else ta shut ya up." Daryl said once they broke away. Angela was speechless, they had really only shared two other kisses, but neither felt as meaningful as the one they just had.

"So, we're in a relationship now?" Angela asked awkwardly.

"Guess so." Daryl responded. "Jus' don' tell anyone."

"Some relationship then if it's not even known." Angela said, but decided it was best not to argue. "But have it your way, no one shall know of this until you want them to."

"The fuck's with the shall and proper soundin' shit?" Daryl asked and Angela laughed.

"I've been using proper grammar Daryl. The shall is new though, I'll give ya that." Angela smiled at him and saw the corners of his mouth pull up a bit into a smirk.

"Sure whatever." Daryl responded.

"Well, I'm going to go see what's happening with the others. You comin'?"

"Nah, rather stay here."

"Fine be by your lonesome." Angela said. She leaned up and kissed him one last time before turning and beginning her walk back to camp. "Later!" She called over her shoulder but heard no response, typical Daryl.

Angela made it back to camp and found Carl and Layla sitting together on the porch. Layla glanced up at Angela before looking down at her lap, still not wanting to speak. Angela tried to put on a brave face, trying to hide how much the ignoring hurt as she approached the kids.

"Hey guys, who came back?" She asked lightly.

"Shane brought my mom back." Carl answered.

"Is she okay?"

"She had an accident, but she's alright."

"That's good, she want hurt or anything right?"

"She has a couple of cuts, but she's fine. Oh! And she's having a baby!" Carl said his face lighting up.

"Really?!" Angela asked shocked; this night was just full of surprises; first Daryl with the relationship, now Lori was pregnant. "Congrats, you're going to be a big brother!" Angela said as happily as she could, but deep down she knew this was no world for a newborn, it was hardly a world for the living, she just hoped everything would be okay for the group, that they'd be safe. Who knows what would be in store for them.


	19. Chapter 19

Angela was up just as the sun began to rise the next morning. As she left the warmth of her makeshift bed, she noticed Layla sleeping across from her with Samantha right by her side. She smiled sadly at her little sister before getting dressed for the day; she walked the short distance to the other bed and leaned down kissing her sister's head.

"I love you Layla, please don't forget that." She whispered to the girl's sleeping form and after giving Samantha a pat on the head, she left the tent.

The first thing Angela noticed as she walked about the camp was Lori's worried stance on the porch. That could only mean one thing, Rick wasn't back yet. Angela began her way to Lori, deciding that she would try to comfort the wife of the group leader.

"Morning Lori, you okay?" Angela asked softly joining Lori on the porch.

"Rick's not back yet. He should have been back right now." Lori replied pain in her voice. "I need to go find him."

"No, you shouldn't go out there, you can't." Angela began but Lori interrupted.

"He's my husband, I need him here. Carl needs him, and no one's going to stop me from finding him."Lori stated firmly.

"And we will, but you need to think about the baby." Angela said then noticed the slightly confused look on Lori's face. "Carl told me."

"Of course he did, he's a bit excited to be a big brother." Lori said, her tone softer now.

"He has every right to be, even in a hell like this, but look, you just need to stay here. I'm sure Rick an Glen are fine and will be back with Hershel shortly, but if it makes you feel better I'll go get Daryl-"

"Daryl won't help you, he already told me he's done looking for people." Lori countered.

"He's the only one I can absolutely trust out on a run, well maybe Andrea, and T-Dog's arm is still not in the best condition."

"There's Shane."

"No thanks." Angela said bitterly.

"He's said he's going to look anyways, you two could go, and if its about him shooting you that, that was just an accident."

"Just forget it, we'll get a group together and find them."

"Shane's on lookout, go talk to him." Lori informed walking into the house.

Angela blew some stray hair out of her face, slightly annoyed that she had to trust Shane once again on a run, but at least this time she wouldn't be alone with him.

As she made her way to the RV she noticed Shane climb down from the RV, most likely switching watch duty with Dale.

"Hey Shane!" Angela called, walking up to him. "Are you getting a group together to go look for Rick?"

"Yeah, was jut headin' over to ask Andrea and maybe Daryl. You're not coming." Shane stated.

"I told Lori I'd go, so I am. You have no right to order me around. Now, you go ask Andrea like you were before, and I'll get Daryl." Angela retorted walking off before he could respond.

Angela made her way to Daryl's camp, but stopped when it came in view. Daryl was sitting by the the barely glowing embers of the fire that had been there last night, but he wasn't alone. Layla was sitting with him stroking Samantha's fur as she talked with him. How she managed to leave the tent and come out here without her noticing, bothered Angela a little, but replaying Daryl's words of how he and the others would look after her too made her worry lighten. After a moment of standing there silently, Layla looked up at Angela which in turn caused Daryl to look up. He nudged the small girl beside him as a clear sign to move, but Angela didn't expect Layla to come towards her slowly with her head hung low.

"Hi Angie." Layla said once she stood in front of her older sister.

"Hey Princess." Angela replied a smile pulling at her lips.

"I'm sorry." Layla cried, suddenly wiping at her face as tears dripped down her cheeks. Angela dropped to her knees and hugged her sister close.

"Don't be, I understand that losing Sophia after everything you've been through was hard. You needed time, but listen to me, we can talk about this later, okay?" Angela said pulling away slightly so she could look Layla in the eyes. "Right now I need to talk to Daryl, so why don't you go find Carl and later tonight we'll talk."

Layla nodded giving her sister one last hug before going back to camp with Samantha. Angela watched them leave for a while before turning her attention to the redneck that was making arrows. She smiled to herself for a moment then walked over to him.

"I don't know what you said to her, but thank you."

"Didn' say much, jus' gave her the push she needed." Daryl responded, his eyes never leaving his work.

"Still thank you. Told ya you cared." Angela said jokingly, and Daryl finally looked up at her.

"Ya needed ta talk to me?" He had obviously heard the conversation.

"Yeah, Shane is getting Andrea and we're going to go find Rick and Glen. I was wondering if you'd come along?" Angela said her joking tone gone.

"Why are you goin'? Especially if Shane's leadin'."

"I told Lori, I'd go. And the fact Shane is leading the search party is a main reason I'm asking you. I can trust you, Shane, not so much. So what do ya say?" Angela asked hoping because it was her, he'd go.

"Fine, but only so I know you won't come back all shot up." Daryl said standing up and starting to gather his things.

"Thank you Daryl." Angela said, watching him make sure every arrow was accounted for and sling the crossbow on his back. He walked up to her and nodded.

"So, when do we leave?"

"Soon, I believe." Angela placed her hand on his shoulder and reached up to peck his lips. "Thanks again."

"Stop thankin' me already." Daryl stated and kissed her lips after glancing around them. When they pulled apart Angela couldn't help the smile that painted her face. "C'mon we best be gettin' to the others." Daryl stated ushering her to start moving.

The two made it to the others and went over the plan that was quickly set up. Shane, Daryl, T-Dog, and Angela stood by one of the cars making sure everything was there that they would need, while Andrea went to go grab some things out if the RV.

"T are you sure you should be coming?" Angela asked regarding T-Dog's arm.

"My arm is a lot better now, almost completely healed. I just gotta make sure I don't hit it on anything, but shooting a gun or using a knife's not gunna hurt it." He replied looking down at the cut on his arm.

"Okay just making sure." Angela said with a smile.

She turned when she felt someone lightly hit her shoulder and turned to find Daryl holding a canteen out to her. She she took it, sending him a thankful smile and took a drink from it. She looked past Daryl and noticed Dale asking Andrea about something and heard him mention that 'Shane has lost people before', agreeing immediately with Dale that Shane wasn't the most trustworthy person. Andrea on the other hand didn't think agree with Dale. She started saying something back that Angela couldn't hear and Angela decided she'd leave it alone. Taking another sip of the water, Angela handed Daryl the canteen back and turned towards the car again.

"Hey guys." Andrea said as she approached us and it looked like she was going to continue, but looked off in the distance instead.

Everyone turned to look in the same direction to see a car driving towards the farm. Rick was back. As the car came closer, the group ran to greet them and find out what took them so long to return.

Carl was the first to reach them, running and hugging Rick as soon as he left the car. Lori wasn't far behind. Maggie on the other hand ran past her father and straight to Glen, who didn't return the hug he received. The reunion of the group didn't last long though, because they didn't come back alone.

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog questioned pointing at the backseat of the car where a guy sat with his eyes covered.

"That's Randall." Glen replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Everyone closed in on the car carefully as if the guy would suddenly attack.

"Maggie prepare the barn for surgery." Hershel ordered as he disappeared into the house.

Angela looked to Daryl as the group began to dissipate. She wanted to know what he thought of this, wanted some sort if reassurance that the three men made a wise decision on bringing this kid back with them. Daryl wasn't any sort of comfort though; he wore a mask as usual and she couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

"Daryl, think you can help get Randall to the barn?" Rick asked. Daryl nodded his response and helped Glen and T-Dog get the guy to the barn, leaving Angela standing there watching them leave.

"Is he a bad guy Angie?" Layla asked coming to stand by her sister. Angela looked down at the young girl and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I don't know Princess, but right now I don't think he's much of a threat."

"He's not a threat?" A voice scoffed in disbelief. Angela turned to see Shane. "Ya see that's the problem with you Angela, you're to quick to trust."

"Didn't say I trusted him Shane, all I just now learned his name, but I do know he's got a bum leg that Hershel's going to fix up. He probably won't be able to walk all that well after. So as of right now, no, I don't think he's so much of a threat." Angela replied, Shane was going to say something else, but another voice chimed in.

"We'll discuss what we think of this guy in a little while. We're going to meet in the house and discuss this as a group." Rick said walking over to the two.

"What's there to discuss Rick? Man, what even happened out there?"

"We ran into some other survivors, they drew on us and I took care of it. Their group came and shot at us some more, had us trapped in a bar. Then walkers came and that kid fell off a roof; they left him for dead Shane. That's what happened." Rick explained.

"He shot at you and you brought him back here? To the place we're staying? where we sleep?" Shane questioned

"Yes, because I'm still trying to hold on to some piece of humanity, and we will talk about this more later, as a group." Rick stated. He looked over at Angela and nodded before walking back to the house. Angela glanced at Shane quickly then turned, taking her sister and following Rick inside.

It wasn't long before everyone was gathered in the house. Rick explained what happened in town again, and most didn't quite understand why they would bring Randall back, but no one really questioned it like Shane had. About halfway into the meeting Hershel walked through the door wiping the blood off his hands.

"I fixed up his calf the best I could, but he'll have some nerve damage and will be off his feet at least a week." He stated as Daryl walked in, he met eyes with Carol for a moment before glancing around the group, locking eyes with Angela's. He nodded slightly at her which she returned with a small smile.

"Once he is, we send him on his way with a canteen." Rick announced, which set Shane off.

"So you're just gunna give him a care package and send him on his way?" Shane questioned. "He was with another group; you killed what, three of them? What happens if they come looking for him?"

"They left him for dead, no one's looking for him."

"Ya know what?! I'm gunna go get him some flowers! Look here folks, we're back in fairy tale land!" Shane said storming out of the room, but Hershel stopped him.

"Ya know we never discussed what you did at my barn. Rick says you've got to stay, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Now do us both a favor and keep your mouth shut." Shane let out a breath before turning and walking out.

"We're not gunna do anything about it right now so everybody, just calm down." Rick said and everyone began to walk out.

Angela sat at the table they had gathered around with Layla watching as everyone walked out. She noticed Andrea followed Shane, and that Carol stopped by Daryl for a moment, but he was still wasn't going to talk to her and rushed out the door.

"Angie can I go find Carl?" Layla asked.

"Yeah go ahead." Angela replied with a smile.

Once Layla was gone, Angela's smile fell as she thought over Randall. He was causing more trouble for the group, they had just lost so much, so many people. She really didn't know how she felt about this new guy, but she was going to trust Rick. That much she was sure of.


	20. Chapter 20

**A new chapter for y'all. Did anyone see tonight's episode, Prey I believe was the title of it? Not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but in my opinion it was really good. Thanks to anyone who has read my story, following, made this one of their favorites, and to those few who have reviewed. I love hearing from my readers, so don't be shy, I promise I'm not a walker, I don't bite! Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Now on with the chapter! :)**

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Angela walked down the porch steps putting distance between her and the Greene household. She had sat at the dinning room table for quite some time now, just thinking about this group and the new guy that had been brought in.

There was a huge strain on the group, that much was sure; especially when it came to Rick in Shane. The two had been very close friends long before Angela joined, from what Angela could tell, probably long before all hell broke loose ending life as they once knew it. There were a few times she had heard the two refer to each other as brothers, they were that close, but now they were more distant. Rick still used the term 'brother' towards Shane, but it sounded strained and they clearly didn't see eye to eye any longer. Their issues were quickly becoming the groups, both men would bring up solid points, but not many would firmly choose a side and speak out. It would only be a matter of time before everyone had to speak and choose a side, Angela just knew it would come, she only hoped it wouldn't tear them apart when it did. Shane's temper was another thing to worry about; he'd be pissed most days now and Rick bringing Randall back just pushed him over the edge, only closer to the brink of snapping, but when he finally would no one knew.

Angela stopped on the edge of camp; her eyes searching for the young girl she had sworn to protect. She caught sight of Carl sitting at a picnic table with his mom and began walking that way knowing Layla would be there with them.

"More schooling?" Angela asked as she approached. Layla beamed up at her.

"Nope tic-tac-toe and I'm winning!" Layla exclaimed.

"Don't get too full of yourself Layla, Carl could make a comeback." Angela replied placing a hand on Carl's shoulder. "Right Carl?" He looked up at her with determination in his eyes.

"Yeah! You better watch out Layla!" He agreed the three laughing together as the game continued. Lori sat smiling at the young kids and Angela turned to her.

"You okay watching Layla for me?"

"Of course, she'll stay with me and Carl. Where are you off to?" Lori asked with a knowing tone of voice.

"Just want to walk around the land, clear my head for a bit. Sitting in that house didn't help me at all, I need to stretch my legs." Angela replied

"Not going to see a certain redneck?" Lori's tone still had that knowing sound to it, but had turned rather disapproving as well.

"No, I'm going to walk around, by myself. I don't know what you think is going on between me and Daryl, but I can reassure you it's nothing. We're just friends, I trust the guy to have my back it tough situations that's all." Angela said, only the first part being true. She hoped Lori wouldn't see through the lie that had been spoken.

"What was with the canteen earlier, then?" Lori pried.

"Daryl being kind, and having my back. What are you getting at?" Angela was getting annoyed now, and didn't want to get into an argument about this in front of the kids.

"I just don't want you getting hurt, and he's growing more distant now." Lori shrugged.

"Daryl's a good guy who's done a lot for this group and for my sister. I owe him, I've said that so many times since joining this group, but it's true. Lori just believe me when I say there's nothing going on between the two of us, we're friends that's it, no matter how distant he is right now or what I've told you a while back."

"Alright, alright." Lori said, but Angela knew this wouldn't be the last she heard on the matter. "Just get going, don't want to be wondering around once it gets dark."

"Thank you." Angela said halfheartedly and began to walk off.

"Enjoy your walk Angela." Lori called. Angela didn't respond as she kept walking towards the fields.

"You two continue your game, I'm going to see if Carol needs any help with chores. Stay in Dale's sight alright." Lori said as she rose from her seat.

"Yes ma'am." The two kids replied. Lori kissed Carl's head before walking towards where Carol was hanging clothes.

"Hey Carol." Lori greeted receiving a small hi back. Lori grabbed some clothes from the basket and started hanging them as well. "Do you think something's going on between Daryl and Angela?" She questioned, she knew Angela loved Daryl, she admitted that the night he was shot,but Lori couldn't believe that the girl was okay with just being friends with him after all she confessed.

"What do you mean?" Carol asked, interested in some fresh gossip to take her mind off her loss.

"Look, you can't tell anyone this." Lori said glancing around to make sure that no one was in earshot. "The night Daryl was shot, Angela was a mess. She was so worried about Daryl's life and her and I say by the door waiting for news on what he had found that day. I gave her a shoulder to cry on and she ended up telling me that she loved him. Then when he's back on his feet, the two disappear into the woods for the day. I just think something's up is all."

"Them disappearing in the woods together was pretty weird." Carol admitted. "And she really told you she loved him?" Lori nodded.

"Pretty much, but she didn't need to tell me, she pretty much screamed it through her actions that day; by showing how much Daryl getting hurt bothered her and yelling at Andrea."

"Well, Daryl did trust her faster than he had ever trusted any of us when we first met him." Carol noted. "That could have been because of Layla though, he trusted her, protected her, and she spoke a lot about her sister. That could have made him be a little more open minded about her."

"I guess that's a possibility." Lori mused. "She's just acting strange though; she either avoids the conversation when she realizes I'm going to bring it up or she says nothing's going on. Like today she told me she was going for a walk and I brought it up; she all but panicked and started saying that nothing was going on, that they were just friends like she was okay with the thought of them being nothing more than friends."

"Maybe they aren't more than friends, and maybe she's just accepted that because she doesn't want him to push her away completely." Carol suggested and Lori stopped and looked at her.

"Maybe, but maybe she'll talk to someone about it and accidentally let something slip." Carol laughed a little at this.

"It's been a while since we could talk like this; just gossip like nothing's wrong with the world."

"Kind of nice isn't it." Lori agreed

"Yeah, and I'll go see if Angela will tell me anything." Carol said knowing exactly what Lori wanted.

"Really?! If you go now you can probably catch her alone, she walked off towards the open fields where the cattle are from time to time." Lori said hoping their plan would work.

"Alright I'll let you know what she says." Carol said hanging one last shirt before walking in the direction Lori explained. It didn't take long to find Angela and she hastily made her way to the younger woman. "Hey." She said once she got close enough, Angela spun around to face her.

"Hey Carol." Angela said a small smile pulling at her lips. "Do you need something?"

"No, just saw you walking around thought I'd come join you." Carol replied.

"Oh, um, okay you join me I guess." Angela said not wanting to reject the healing mother. The two walked in silence for a moment, before Carol broke it.

"So what do you think of Daryl?"

"What?" Angela asked laughing slightly at the random question.

"What do you think of Daryl?" Carol repeated.

"Uh, he's a good guy, I hate that he's trying to separate himself from the group, but it's his choice. I think when it comes down to it, he'd have our backs if we needed him." Angela said. She wasn't sure why Carol would ask, but she figure it might have something to do with Lori. "What do you think of him?"

"He's a good man, he did a lot for Sophia, more than her father ever did." Carol answered honestly, but sadly. "I'm not going to let him pull away from the group, not completely, he needs to know someone cares." She sent a soft smile towards Angela before continuing. "I'm going to head back to camp now."

"Alright, bye." Angela watched the woman walk away. She had no idea what was going on, but if Daryl found out they thought something was up he'd probably be pissed.

Carol looked behind her as she headed back to camp and when she noticed Angela had turned away, she changed directions and made her way to where Daryl was staying. She found him sitting by a small fire messing with his arrows and crossbows. He glanced up quickly at her then back to his arrows.

"What d'ya want?" He asked, a frown evident on his face.

"Just wanted to talk to you." Carol stated coming to a stop leaving a good bit if distance between them.

"Got nothin' ta say to you or anyone else in that camp. Moved out here to get away from everyone." Daryl replied still refusing to look up from what he was doing.

"What about Angela?" That stopped his movements for a moment.

"What about her?"

"You two seem pretty close is all. You two talk often and when you had just gotten back on your feet, y'all disappeared into the woods for hours, just the two of you. Just wondering what was going on between y'all." Daryl set his weapon aside and stood up.

"Listen here, there ain't nothin' goin' on. I saved her sister, she's just tryin' to be nice cause she don't know how to repay me and won't drop the damn subject. As fer goin' off into the woods that day, was so I could teach her ta use that bow of hers properly, 'cause I'm not gunna be there ta save her ass every damn time she gets in trouble. Now why don' cha jus' leave me the hell alone. I'm tired of everyone being in my damn buisness!" Daryl yelled, he was in Carol's face, much like last night, but this time he didn't even raise a finger towards her.

"Sorry I bothered you then." Carol replied turning in her heel and going back to camp. She didn't look back to see Daryl walk off into the fields towards where Angela was walking around, she didn't even stop till she found an anxiously waiting Lori.

"Well?" Lori asked when she noticed Carol.

"According to Angela he's a good guy that will have the group's back if they needed it, so she trusts him. She didn't say anything about being friends or anything of the sorts. When you ask Daryl about her, he claims that he pretty much doesn't care, that when they went into the woods he was teaching her to use her bow well so he didn't have to constantly save her and that she along with everyone else gets on his nerves and is always in his business." Lori frowned at this, she was hoping would have slipped, but in the end, thought that maybe she had been wrong to begin with.

"Thanks for trying." Lori said. Carol nodded, not saying another word, and walked away. Lori stared after her for a moment, regret was beginning to wash over her. She realized now that she probably shouldn't have asked Carol to talk to Angela, it got them nowhere. Maybe there wasn't anything to begin with, that all it was was gossip and nothing more.

If they only knew.


	21. Chapter 21

**Another chapter for y'all. :) Would love to hear what everyone thinks of my story so hitting the little review button is always appreciated. Thank you all who have made this their favorite, followed, and just taken the time to read my story. It means a lot to me. Also I'm a year older today! :) Haven't done much for my birthday except attended my few college classes that are set up for today. Anyways, let me know what y'all think, I love reviews/constructive criticism.**

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After Carol left, Daryl gathered his arrows and crossbow, slinging them effortlessly on his back and stormed off into the fields. He remembered seeing Angela walk this way earlier and knew they needed to talk. He told her not to say anything about their relationship to anyone, then Carol just starts asking questions about them. Something was up.

He spotted Angela sitting on the fence, staring out into the open fields. Off in the distance he could see a few of the cattle grazing, but nothing more.

"Angel!" She turned quickly at his voice, a frown etched into her features at his tone and the furious expression on his face. She didn't speak until he was closer to avoid yelling.

"Daryl is everything alright? What happened?" She questioned thinking something bad happened at camp.

"That whole relationship thing I said we could try, yeah, forget I said anything."

"Daryl, what are you talking about? Give me a reason at least." Angela said completely confused.

"The fact you can't keep your damn mouth shut!" Daryl yelled. Angela turned around on the fence so she was facing him better. She was hurt and though she tried to hide it, it shone in her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The hell you don't! Ya went runnin' yer mouth at camp even after I told ya not to!"

"Daryl I didn't say anything to anyone! I promise!" Angela said hoping he'd believe her, she didn't want to lose him.

"Then explain why Carol came askin' me shit about ya." Daryl growled and realization began to sink in.

"Lori-"

"What's Lori got ta do with any if this?" Daryl interrupted.

"Shut up and I'll tell you!" Angela snapped causing Daryl stay quiet. Angela hardly got angry at people, and if she did she dealt with it calmly, yet here she was yelling right back at him and it startled both if them slightly. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"I asked Lori to watch Layla saying I was going for a walk. She thought I was just coming to see you. Carol came up to me while I was walking around, asked me what I thought of you and it was suddenly that she did it too. I think Lori put we up to coming to talk to us, trying to find out if anything was going on between us."

"Why would Olive Oil do that, why she's so worried 'bout everyone else's buisness?" Daryl was much calmer now as he spoke, just trying to understand everything.

"She sort of knows how I feel towards you." Angela admitted

"What do you mean by that?" Daryl questioned.

"I didn't tell her about our relationship, I told her that we were just friends and that I trusted you to have my back since you said not to tell."

"Gotta tell me more than that. Doesn't explain why she sent Carol to come snoopin'."

"I sort of told her I liked you, but it was a few days ago, before we were anything. When you got shot by Andrea, I got worried and upset and Lori was comforting me and I told her. She was fine with the thought of us being together then, but now she doesn't and I guess she's sending Carol to try and find out, but it backfired 'cause I told her nothing except you were a good guy." Angela explained looking down at her feet as she swung them in the air, kicking the boards of the fence.

"So ya said nothin' 'bout us?" Daryl said knowing he was wrong to accuse her, but didn't want to really apologize for it. Angela looked up at him.

"Daryl, you told me not to tell and though I don't fully understand why it matters, I'm gonna respect your wishes and not tell the others. Do you really think I'd do something that stupid, as to break my promise to you, and lose your trust? I mean what I say, I try to keep my word when I give it."

"I believe ya." Daryl said taking a step closer to her while adjusting the crossbow on his back. "Shouldn' have doubted ya, sorry." He looked down while mumbling his apology, but Angela heard it an a smile began to paint across her face.

"No ya shouldn't have, but I forgive you. Now you've got your crossbow, are you going somewhere or do you just like to have it in case something was to happen?" Angela questioned, changing the subject and catching Daryl's eyes again.

"Both." He stated. "Goin' huntin, ya wanna come?" He asked the question slowly and awkwardly.

"No thanks, it's getting late and I told Layla I'd talk to her tonight about what happened with- with the barn incident. Besides it's getting dark Daryl, can't you wait till morning?"

"Gotta eat."

"There's plenty of food in the house for you as well. You don't have to sit and eat with us, but we can still fix ya a plate of food. I mean don't you ever get tired of squirrel?" Angela asked in a joking sort of tone at the end.

"Got a problem with my squirrels?"

"No, it's just, I doubt their all that appetizing and hardly filling."

"Ya ever try one?"

"Can't say I've had the pleasure of eating one of your squirrels, no."

"Looks like I need to get ya to, then. Unless you let Glenn the chinaman talk ya into thinking their disgusting." Daryl said a smirk on his face.

"He's Korean Daryl, and he never said they were disgusting, just that he was glad he didn't have to eat them right now, that could mean he just got tired of them." Angela countered.

"Whatever ya say Angel." Daryl replied his smirk still remaining as he stared into her eyes. Her face saddened a bit.

"You're still gonna go now aren't you, not going to take the offer of food from the house?" Daryl shook his head slightly.

"Prefer catchin' my own food; have been for years and jus' cause dead people started walkin' 'round's not gonna stop me now."

"Just be careful out there. Come back without any new injuries and soon."

"Don' worry 'bout me, I'll be fine and back before ya miss me." Daryl said as he began to walk away. Angela hoped off the fence and called out to him causing him to turn around.

"Are we still together, or where are we now after this?" Angela asked as she leaned back against the fence and kicked at the ground. Daryl closed the distance between them taking her head in his hands and pressing his lips to hers roughly. Angela didn't complain as his fingers tangled in her hair pulling some strands out in the process as she kissed him back. She lifted her hand from her side and placed it on the side of his face, but it fell limply at her side again when he pulled away from her slightly, a smirk on his face at her red cheeks and surprised expression.

"Where do you think we are?" He asked.

"I think either we're still together or you really just like to mess with my head by kissing me like that just for it to be some cruel joke just to break me so when the walkers come you can let the cat out of the bag and feed me to them." Angela said a smile forming on her lips.

"I ain't Walsh. Not gonna shoot ya and leave ya ta be walker food." Daryl replied stepping away from her completely. "You should git back to camp now, go talk to yer sister."

"Right, you be careful on your hunt."

"Will be." Daryl said walking towards the woods again.

"Hey Dixon bring back a deer! That'd be better than any squirrel!" Angela called. Daryl looked back at her an actual smile on his face.

"If I can find one I will, cook us up some venison! Don't think yer gettin' outta try in' squirrel though!" He yelled back.

"Bring back a deer and I'll be happy to try your stupid fuckin' squirrel!" Angela laughed; watching as Daryl disappeared amongst the trees.


	22. Chapter 22

**So only three more chapters till I'm caught up on what I have typed. Hope you are all enjoying reading this. Thanks to everyone who has favorite this story, followed, read, and reviewed. Means a lot to me. Let me know what y'all think! :)**

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Angela couldn't keep the smile off her face as she walked back to camp. Their relationship just started, but she felt she saw a glimpse of him that no one else did and that just set the butterflies off in her stomach. She really was falling head over heels for the man and though that scared her, she was going to accept it.

Instead of heading straight to get Layla like she was planning, Angela walked to the house. A "come in" rang out after she knocked on the door and she found Patricia in the kitchen.

"What can I do for you Angela?" She asked looking up from her cleaning.

"This is going to sound strange, but you don't happen to have any nail polish do you?" Angela asked a bit sheepishly. A small smile graced Patricia's face as she placed the towel she held on the counter.

"I think Beth or Maggie may have had some when everything happened. Come with me."

Patricia led Angela to one of the bedrooms and found quite a few bottles of nail polish. The two sat down on the bed to begin looking through their find.

"Can I ask why you wanted nail polish?" Patricia questioned as she picked up a bottle of deep red polish.

"Before the world ended Layla and I would sit down together every so often and just have girl time. I'd do her nails for her and we'd just talk about anything that came to mind. Usually it started with school then ventured off to some cartoon or something else she loved. I'm going to talk to her tonight about what all has happened and I figured I'd try to make it seem like it used to, when we didn't have a care in the world." Angela explained as she picked up various shades of pink polish.

"Some normalcy." Patricia said and Angela shook her head as they continued to look. "Is there a certain color you were hoping we'd have?"

"Not really, I mean it would be awesome if y'all had a purple, that's her favorite color." Angela said catching Patricia's attention.

"Wait," se said as she looked through a pile that she already glanced through. "Here it is!" She said with a smile while holding up a bottle of light purple polish.

"That's perfect!" Angela laughed taking the bottle and helping Patricia place everything back neatly. "Thank you so much for this, I'll bring it back as soon as I'm done with it."

"It's no problem. I think it will be good for you and Layla to have some sisterly time like you used to." Patricia said as they walked back to the living room. "Afraid I need to get back to cleaning though. See you at dinner."

"See you then, and thanks again." Angela replied before leaving the house and finding Layla in camp with Lori and Carl doing school work once again."Hey." She said grabbing their attention. "Mind if I steal my sister for a while?"

"No go ahead." Lori replied and Layla jumped up immediately and with quick goodbyes the sisters walked to their tent. Layla went and plopped down on Angela's cot Samantha following until hearing her name.

"Sam go outside and wander, were safe." Angela told the border collie as she pointed outside. After a few moments the dog listened and ran off to search around the farm.

"So what are we doing?" Layla asked looking down at her hands.

"Well, I thought we could talk about what's happened, but I also thought that we could paint our nails while we talked." Angela said pulling the nail polish out of her pocket she had hid it in.

"Where did you get nail polish?!" Layla questioned as a smile broke across her face.

"Patricia let me borrow it." Angela laughed as she joined her sister on the cot.

"We'll I'm glad she did, and it's purple too! It'll be just like it used to, talking and painting our nails." Layla stated her smile softening a bit. Angela shook the bottle and opened it before taking one of Layla's hands in hers.

"That's why I asked Patricia if they had any nail polish, so we could sit down, talk, and make our nails beautiful like old times." Angela replied painting a coat of the light purple on Layla's nails.

"Yeah except it's not like it used to be." Layla said her smile vanishing. "There's no Jamie to pick on us, Mommy's not cooking dinner for us, and Daddy's not coming home from a run or work. They're all gone."

"I know Princess, a lot has changed." Angela said finishing the first coat on one hand and taking Layla's other one.

"Everything has."

"Except us, we can't let this new world tear us apart. We may have lost Mom, Dad, and Jamie, but they'll never truly leave us."

"What do you mean?" Layla questioned

"As long as we keep our memories of them, remember all the good times, and fun times we had with them, they'll never leave us. They will never be truly gone if we constantly remember the good things about them and smile. Family's forever Layla. No matter where we go in life, no matter what happens, we will always be family." Angela explained.

"But it hurts to think of them. I miss them." Layla said as tears stung her eyes.

"I miss them too, but I know they wouldn't want us crying all the time about them. They would want us to stay strong and fight this new world, survive, but never forget where we came from, everyone we loved and cared for. To beat this world for them, not let it take us down. Youre still so young and shouldn't have seen all that you have, but you're strong Layla and I know you can make it and be strong for our family, for me, for dad. I know you can do it."

Tears fell down Layla's face at Angela's words. The youngest Morrison didn't realize how much faith her older sister had in her until now, and even though she was still young, she would stay strong for her sister, her family. Layla wiped the tears off her face carefully so she didn't mess up her freshly painted nails.

"You're right Angela, I've got to stay strong. I've got to survive for Jamie and Mom and Dad, but I can't do it alone."

"And you don't have to, I'm going to be right here beside you. Helping you along the way and keeping you safe. We can make it through this, we've just got to keep holding on to what we have left and take the world on one day at a time."

"It helps we have this group behind is too; Lori, Rick, Glenn, Carl, and everyone. Especially Daryl." Layla said and Angela laughed a little.

"It helps a lot, but why especially Daryl?"

"I like him he's nice and cool, and he knows how to hunt just like Daddy did. Do you not like him?"

"No I do, he's a good man and has the group's back."

"I think you two would make a good couple." Layla stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Why do say that?" Angela chuckled.

"You're both good people who care about this group, about me. Y'all seem to be good friends and would make a great couple. Also he cares about you."

"How do you know he cares about me?"

"Because when Shane opened the barn up, and Sophia came out as a walker. I wanted nothing to do with you. I was afraid that you couldn't protect me and everything you said was a lie. He stopped me when I was walking around with Carl and we talked for a while and he told me that me ignoring you hurt you and that you thought I hated you and that I should talk to you. That's why I wanted to talk."

"Did you hate me?" Angela asked laughing put aside.

"No I was just upset because you told me we'd find Sophia and I got scared. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to save me an that you were lying and I didn't know what to do so I stayed by Carl also afraid I'd lose another friend."

"I can't seem to promise you much of anything anymore, but I promise to do everything I can to keep you safe." Angela said looking straight into her sister's eyes.

"I know you will Angie." Layla replied. Angela hugged her sister tightly.

"Just when something happens come talk to me okay? Don't keep it to yourself until Daryl pretty much makes you talk."

"I won't, I promise." Layla said as they pulled apart.

"Good, now let's finish up these nails." Angela said with a smile that Layla returned.

"Right!" Layla agreed as her sister took her hand again. The two of them sat in their tent for a while just talking with each other in a carefree manner. Angela was relieved by this, happy that she finally had her little sister back.


	23. Chapter 23

The Morrison sisters sat in their tent long than they realized, just enjoying each others company. Lori calling to them from outside the tent is what pulled them back into reality.

"Angela, Layla time for dinner." The statement made it seem normal again, like they were all friends camping in the front yard rather than living in a world where the dead attack the living.

"Is it that late already?" Angela thought aloud as she climbed out of the tent.

"Yeah you two have been in there for a few hours." Lori replied

"Shit, didn't mean to. I should have been helping with chores."

"Don't worry about it, you two needed the time together." Lori said with a soft smile before heading towards the house.

"Sam!" Layla called looking for her faithful dog.

"Layla let her wander, she'll be fine. Let's get inside and eat." Angela said and the two went into the house.

Dinner wasn't as calm as Angela expected it to be. Shane was still seething about Randall being at the farm, and decided he'd bring the subject up once again midway through supper.

"You really think it's a wise choice to just let that kid go Rick?"

"We're going to let him out far away from here, he's not goin to know where we are." Rick answered earning a disbelieving look from his friend.

"Whatever man, I'm just sayin, what if he manages to find his group again and they manage to find the farm-"

"His group left him for dead, they're not looking for him. The decision is final Shane, we let him go, give him a chance to survive on his own." Rick stated leaving no room for argument. Shane scoffed, dropping his silverware on his plate and taking his leave.

"Just hope you know what you're doing." Were the last words he spoke as he left and the last words spoken through dinner. Angela thought the statement through and ultimately decided that Rick did know what he was doing, he was doing what he thought best for the group and would trust his decisions till the end.

Angela woke as the sun rose the next morning looked about the tent. Layla laid across from her fast asleep, but Samantha wasn't beside her. The loyal border collie didn't come when called after dinner and though it was unusual, Angela reassured her sister that nothing was wrong and they'd leave the tent open enough for the dog to slip in during the night. Now she began to worry, Samantha never strayed far before and these days were the worst time for her to start.

Angela tried pushing the thought from her mind as she headed towards the RV where Dale sat in his usual spot.

"Morning Dale!" She called drawing his attention to her.

"Good morning!" He smiled as she neared the vehicle and climbed up on the ladder.

"Need some company?"

"That would be nice, thanks." He said and she came to sit beside him. "Are you and Layla talking yet?"

"You noticed that huh?" Angela said

"I noticed her spending more time with Carl and Lori and it seemed she was avoiding you." Dale said. "Not that I'm trying to be in your business, I just want for the two of you to get along."

"I didn't think you were snooping Dale, you care about this group and want what's best for everyone in it. You're like the figure in this awkward little family we've somehow created." Angela described, sharing a laugh with Dale.

"If that's the way you want to put it." He chuckled. "But yes, I care for everyone in this group. We need to watch out for each other and stick together. Though I think we need to keep an eye on Shane." He explained quietly.

"You don't trust him either?" Angela questioned though she already knew the answer.

"No, I think he's dangerous. He's lost people, and he shot you. I'm just not sure if he has the group's best interest in mind or his own."

"You're not alone Dale. I don't trust him either and Daryl doesn't all that much, he trust him more than the two of us do, but he's kind of wary about him."

"Speaking of Daryl, anything going on between you two?" Dale asked cautiously.

"We're just friends, we've got each others back, and God I sound like a broken record." Angela groaned.

"Been asked that a lot?"

"Yeah, Lori and Carol, not to mention Shane's determined something's up."

"I'm sorry about that." Dale said looking from Angela to the fields again.

"It's fine, just wish they'd leave us alone. Just because we spend some time together doesn't mean we're together, he saved my sister, what am I supposed to do? Pretend he doesn't exist?" Angela ranted, though it wasn't all true.

"No you're not, it's fine that you're trying to pay him back for that, it's the right thing to do. Also you never answered me about you and Layla."

"Oh yeah, sorry, we talked yesterday and sorted things out. We're good now." Angela said and the relief was obvious in her voice.

"That's good, I'm glad you two talked things out."

"Me too." Angela said noticing that Lori began hanging clothes. "Well Dale this has been nice, but I'm going to see if Lori needs some help."

"Alright." Dale said as they young girl began to leave. Just as she began to climb down the ladder she stopped.

"Oh Dale, you haven't seen my dog, Samantha, have you?"

"No, she's missing?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm assuming she's alright and looking around the farm, but I haven't seen her since last night."

"I'll keep an eye out for her." Dale said and Angela sent him a thankful smile.

"Thanks, well see ya later." Angela said before climbing down and heading to Lori, but before she got there Shane came running to her with a bit of blood on his clothes.

"Angela, you need to come with me, quick." He said quietly, but there was an urgency to his voice.

"What happened?" She asked fear sinking in.

"Just come with me, you need to see something." Shane stated urgently and Angela realized she wouldn't get any answers from him now.

"Alright fine." She said and Shane spun around and led her to the fields away from the camp. She didn't like being taken away from everyone, but she needed to know what was wrong and now.

They kept walking for a while until the trees of the surrounding woods came into walking distance. A bit if relief came to Angela when she saw Daryl at the edge of the woods, meaning she was no longer alone with Shane, but with Daryl's stance by the trees, she knew something was wrong.

"Shane what's going on." She demanded as they neared Daryl whose blue eyes were now fixed on Angela.

"I'm sorry Angela." Shane said and stopped a few feet ahead and looked down for a moment. Angela couldn't see what he looked at because of the tall grass that took over this area, so with a glance at the two men she stepped forward till she saw the body that lay hidden in the grass.

"Oh my God." Angela breathed as tears pricked her eyes. She dropped down to her knees, her eyes falling to the side that was torn apart and sob caught in her throat an tears fell down her face as she looked at her family's dog.

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**Please don't hate me for this chapter! Thanks so much for reading, making this a favorite, and following. :) I two more chapters to put up on this website, before I'm caught up with what I have written. Might put another up later, but not sure yet. Let me know what y'all think! **


	24. Chapter 24

**Guys there is only one more chapter till I'm caught up with what I had typed. This means my updates are going to be rather far apart at times once the next one is up. Thank you all for reading, making this a favorite, following and reviewing. Also want to thank VealMaster for sending me such in depth reviews about my story, so glad you're enjoying it. :) Now on with the chapter!**

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Angela reached out and softly touched the fur on Samantha's head where it was clear of blood. Tears still streamed down her face, she was slowing losing what was left of her family.

"What happened?" She choked out as she tried to dry her tears.

"Walker got her." Shane stated causing Angela to look up at him.

"But there's no walker here. Did one of you kill it and take it away or something?"

"I don't know where it went, must of wandered off somewhere. We'll find it Angela and kill the son of a bitch." Shane said.

"Why do you have blood on you?" Angela asked her eyes staring hard at Shane, not trusting his say in this event.

"Reached down and checked on the dog, in hopes we could save her." Shane explained. Angela accepted the story though she figured it was a lie, she just didn't want to bother with figuring out what was true or false about his statements.

"We need to bury her." Angela said as she looked down at the dog again. "And someone needs to tell Rick about the walker."

"Right, I'll go get a shovel and tell Rick." Shane said turning to leave.

"Shane." Angela called looking over at him again. "Don't let Layla know, I need to be the one to tell her." Shane nodded and continued his way back to camp.

"You alright?" Daryl asked. Angela tore her eyes away from the grim scene in front of her to look into beautiful blues.

"No, not really." She told him truthfully; her voice barely loud enough for him to hear. "What am I going to tell Layla?" Her eyes fell to her lap as tears began to make her way down her face again. Daryl shifted on his feet awkwardly for a moment before he knelt beside the girl he cared for.

"Ya gotta tell her the truth." He said pausing for a moment. "Well what we think is the truth anyways."

"You don't believe him either." She stated as she desperately wiped the tears from her face. She was tired of crying, especially in front of Daryl, afraid he would see it as a weakness.

"He had too much blood on him to have just checked her, unless he was in panic."

"But this is Shane, he doesn't care about Layla. He just wants to be seen as leader." Silence stretched between the two before Angela broke it. "I'm tired of losing people."

"Ain't we all." He said and slowly placed a hand on Angela's shoulder causing her to look at him. "But we gotta get through it."

"Be strong, told Layla something like that last night." Angela said with a sad smile that quickly faded. "You probably think it's stupid cryin over a dog, but Sam's been in the family for a couple of years now. We raised her, she was family."

"If she was considered family then it ain't stupid."

"Thanks Daryl." Placing her hand gently on Daryl's that rested on her shoulder and was surprised when he didn't pull away.

"Ya say that a lot."

"Sorry bet that gets annoying. It just seems that ever since we met, you've had my back without really meaning to at times and I don't know, just seems like I have a lot to thank ya for." She said meeting his eyes again.

"Ya don't have to keep sayin it though."

"I'll try not to say it so much anymore." She said with a small smile.

"Good."

"Shut up Daryl." She said leaning over and placing her lips against his. Just as his hand slowly slid from her shoulder up to her head, she pulled away, a small smirk on her lips knowing e did the same thing to her the other day.

Voices reached their ears and they both looked up to see Rick and Shane were coming into view, which in turn caused Daryl to stand up quickly and move away from Angela who rolled her eyes as an attempt hide the hurt she felt at his actions. Shane carried a shovel with him and he dug it into the ground and leaned on it slightly when he reached the eldest Morrison sister and the Redneck.

"Angela, I'm sorry to hear what happened." Rick said after glancing down at the dog.

"Yeah, I just hate having to tell Layla this. I just got her talking to me again."

"I understand." Rick said placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Go talk to your sister, we'll handle things here."

"Thanks." She replied her eyes drifting to Shane then Samantha's lifeless body once more, and then landing on Daryl who gave a slight nod, before she turned and headed to camp.

Finding Layla was unfortunately easy, not giving Angela much time to think about what to say. Instead of being with Lori and Carl like she usually was; she was chatting happily with Dale, completely unaware of the horror that had happened.

They looked up as she approached them.

"Angela is something wrong?" Dale asked noticing the tear tracks on her face along with any other signs that her face bore.

"Dale do you mind if I talk to Layla for a minute?" She asked ignoring his question, he'd probably know soon enough.

"Sure thing." Dale said walking off to the others.

"What's up Angie?" Layla asked confusion laced in her voice. Angela kneeled down in front of her sister and took her hands.

"Princess it's about Samantha."

"Is she still missing?"

"No, no Shane found her this morning." Angela's voice broke as she spoke.

"Where is she? Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay." Layla questioned, fearing the worse.

"Layla I'm sorry, she wandered over by the woods and I guess a-"

"No!" Layla interrupted, tears burning her eyes. "Angela no! She can't be!" The tears spilled over, dripping down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry Layla. She's gone."

The noise her sister made broke Angela's heart more than seeing their dog torn to shreds. This was more about just losing Samantha though, that was just the trigger causing Layla to completely break. She lost her parents, her brother, her friend, now she lost her pet. No child should have to see so much death, but in this world it was unavoidable. All Angela could do was hold her sister close as she screamed and cried, just letting out all the hurt she felt. The tears that Angela had stopped earlier began falling down her face once again. She felt useless, because she couldn't stop the pain and loss from happening to her sister.

The group gathered around the freshly made grave. Most probably would have thought it was dumb to have a service of sorts for a dog, but after Layla's breakdown, everyone in their small group made it their priority to be there. Angela kept her arms around Layla as they stood there looking down at the mound where their beloved pet lay, cruelly taken from them in this hell of a world.


	25. Chapter 25

**This is the last one I have typed. I'm working on getting the next chapter typed up and as soon as it's done, I'll upload it here. Thanks for reading, to all who have made this a favorite and/or followed, and reviewed. Means a lot to me. Hope you are all enjoying my story. **

**VealMaster: Thanks for another lovely comment. I hope this chapter lets you in on what happened with Shane and all that. It didn't turn out quite how I had hoped, but I hope it explains it well enough. **

**Now on with the chapter. :)**

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Night loomed over the farm; the warm day had turned into a cool night. It was no mystery that winter was soon approaching, even when a person had no idea of the day or time anymore.

A lone figure stormed from the brightly lit house, running a hand over his shaved head. Shane. He made his way down the steps and through the fields.

He didn't like Rick's decision, he despised it and didn't make an effort to hide it. How could Rick even think that giving that kid a canteen and sending him on his way was harmless? He had a group that tried to kill them and Rick was just letting him go, giving him a chance to survive. A chance to find his group and lead them back to the farm was the way Shane saw it.

Coming from his thoughts Shane finally took in his surroundings. His feet had carried him to the barn, where the root of the problem was locked up now. He stood there staring at the lock that kept the doors closed, kept the prisoner from escaping. He could end this now, it would be easy, much like leaving Otis for dead as he made his escape. Easy, simple. All he had to do was open the doors and kill him and all the troubles the kid brought would be gone.

Shane reached out to the lock with every intention of going in and ending Randall, eliminating part of the groups problem. Just as his fingers brushed the latch a low growl emitted from the shadows beside him. Instead of grabbing for his gun he reached down and grabbed the knife he carried on him and began backing away from the noise.

Clouds covered the moon, taking his only light to see by, so he kept walking. The growling ceased, but he knew he wasn't alone, there was something there with him.

Something hitting his leg made him jump into action. Fear coursed through his veins as he sank the knife into the creature, stabbing it repeatedly and hoping he'd hit its head. So lost in his panic of being basically blind through this, he never heard the sounds that left his victim as the knife entered their flesh.

He hesitantly stopped his attack when the body quit its movements. His breathing was heavy as he waited for any sign that the thing was still alive, but instead was relieved when he noticed the moon peaked around the clouds, illuminating the fields he was in. Shane took in quick notice that he had wound up by the trees, but the body that lay before his feet shocked him.

Shane woke in a start. That night haunted him. He'd never forget how the body looked when the moon light hit it. The worst part was he didn't want to care, the only reason he did was because of the young owner of that dog. Layla. He didn't want to hurt a kid, that's why he didn't kill Angela that night on the run.

The look on Layla's face at the funeral for the pet was what killed him, what made thoughts of the night plague his mind. He couldn't take the sadness, the brokenness in that look the ten year old held. Though he was a bit happy to be rid of the mutt, it wasn't worth it to see that look. Her eyes still held the sorrow she felt, even after days of the death, and he doubt the hurt would ever leave.

Shane dragged himself out of bed and began to get ready, desperately hoping the little girl's face would leave his mind so he could stop the guilt. The dog was just another mouth to feed, nothing more.

With agitated sigh, Shane ran his hands over his face and stood to leave his tent. Him and Rick were heading out this morning, going to drop Randall off, much to his dismay. If only he had killed the kid instead of that damn dog, things would be better and he wouldn't feel any guilt.

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**Sorry this was so short, but I thought this would be a good place to stop it. The next chapter should be longer. Let me know what y'all think. :) Thanks again for reading!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26 for ya! Can y'all believe that the season finale is this week! I don't want it to end! Especially after this last episode, This Sorrowful Life I believe was the title, it was so sad. Not going to say anymore than that incase someone reading hasn't seen it. Ya wanna discuss the episode then send me a PM and I'll be happy to talk. :) Also I've got plans for a couple of other TWD fics in the works. My friend requested a Shane fic so I'm thinking on a plot for that, and I'm also thinking about maybe writing a Merle fic. Not sure yet. **

**Anyways thanks for reading, making this a favorite, and following. Thanks to VealMaster for the detailed review. I'm so glad you're enjoying it. **

**And to Maddy; I'm so sorry I had to kill the dog! I hated doing it, but I wanted to add to Shane's craziness and try to develop his character a bit more. My friend read this and even though she doesn't have a dog, told me she had to go cuddle her cat. That death seemed to bother quite a few of my readers, including myself, but had to be done. This is the apocalypse no one's safe. Thanks so much for reading though. **

**Hope to hear from y'all again and many others. I love reviews. :) Now onto the chapter!**

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The group saw Rick and Shane off, happy to be rid of the prisoner they saved and held in the barn for a week. Though some were happy to let the boy go, others would have had it differently and killed the kid, but Rick was the leader and everyone respected him for that and accepted his decisions none the less.

Angela and her sister payed a visit to the graves, Layla saying a silent prayer for Sophia and Samantha, and Angela just standing protectively by her sister.

Ever since the death of Samantha, their beloved Border Collie, the two sisters have been joined at the hip, hardly leaving each others side. This caused Angela to spend a lot more time in the main camp rather than wondering the fields and visiting a certain hick, but she accepted it knowing Layla needed her support for a while and was thankful she wasn't pushing her away again.

The two left the grave site and headed back to the tents where Carl and Lori sat at the picnic table together. Lori noticed the two coming.

"Ready to work on some math Layla?" She asked the young girl. Lori made an attempt to keep the kids educated, though neither of them liked it. Layla merely shook her head back and forth to answer the question. That was another thing that changed; Layla hardly spoke or smiled anymore. She'd speak to Angela, and occasionally to Carl, but she mainly kept quiet unless it was necessary to speak.

Angela frowned at her sister hating this change, but she also understood it. She remembered losing their grandmother, Layla was too young to remember, but Angela did. She had been close to her, and when the cancer she had been fighting finally took her, Angela pushed everyone but Jamie out, much like Layla was doing now.

"How 'bout we go for a walk in the fields? Enjoy the beautiful day while its still a bit warm out." Angela asked running her fingers through Layla's hair.

"Okay." She whispered, barely loud enough for Angela to hear.

"Alright let's go then. Good luck with math Carl." Angela said sending the two a small smile as she walked off with her sister.

The two walked in silence for a while; Layla looking down at the ground as she walked while Angela watched her sister carefully.

"You can't just shove people out like this Layla." Angela began, breaking the silence and causing her sister to stop in her tracks. "Trust me, nothing good will come of it. It only hurts those you care about." She continued kneeling down in front of her sister and taking her hands. "Please don't do this to the group, to Carl. I'd rather you ignore me than them. They don't deserve to be hurt anymore, none of us do."

"But we have been." Layla stated softly

"Sometimes it can't be helped. There's always things that are going to make us sad, angry. We can't always be happy, there's going to be pain in this world, always has been, but we can't let us get it down. It's just like I told you a few days ago about Jamie, and mom and dad; we've got to stay strong for them. Keep holding on to each day and survive."

"Your sister's right." A voice drawled. Angela turned to see Daryl standing a little ways from her, crossbow slung over his shoulder as usual. "Can't let loss get to ya, gotta think of yourself first now days. Keep yourself alive and away from the geeks." He continued walking closer to the sisters.

"I'm trying to be strong, but it's hard." Layla stated.

"Ya ain't alone. The group's got your back, your sister especially. She's gonna do everything she can to keep ya safe."

"What about you?" Layla asked looking up at Daryl.

"What about me?"

"Do you have my back?"

"'Course I do. Part of the group aren't I? Been watchin' out for ya since I found ya." Daryl said adjusting the strap of his crossbow. Layla smiled slightly at his answer, the first Angela had seen since the loss.

"Thanks Daryl and thanks Angie." She said to the two before focusing on Angela. "Is it okay that I go back to camp? I wanna go talk to Carl."

"Yeah Princess go ahead." Angela said kissing Layla's head before she ran off. She turned quickly when she heard retreating footsteps only to find Daryl walking back to his campsite. She hadn't realized just how far her and Layla had walked out until now as she followed him.

"Thank you." She said as he placed his crossbow down moving a bucket closer to it before throwing logs together for a fire later that night.

"You're always thankin' me, never know what for anymore." Daryl stated not looking up from his work. He sat down when he was satisfied with how things were grabbing the bucket, bringing it a bit closer and began cleaning his arrows. He looked up when she didn't move or speak. "Ya gonna just stand there and stare at me all day, or sit down?"

"Sorry." She mumbled taking a seat next to him. That sat there in silence for a moment, Daryl cleaning his arrows and Angela watching. "For making my sister smile and letting her know that she's being cared for. As well as just for backing me up." She said finally shattering the silence. He gave her a strange look.

"The hell are you babblin' on about?"

"You said you didn't know what I was thanking ya for, and that's why I said thanks. That's what I was babbling about." Angela said with a slight smile.

"Think I've said it a thousand fuckin' times, ya don' have ta thank me." He said going back to cleaning his arrows.

"I know I don't." Angela said leaning over and kissing his cheek causing him to flinch away. "But I want to and after what you just did it just adds to the list of things I gotta keep thanking ya for."

"Ain't no way of gettin' rid of ya huh?" Daryl asked glancing at her from his work a smirk pulling at his lips.

"Sorry hick, looks like your stuck with me." She said matching his smirk. "But seriously I mean every thanks I say to ya. I mean you've gotta find something to be thankful for in this world. It can't be all bad right?"

"Guess so, world's just more bad than good though. Think it always has been, but yeah, guess ya gotta be thankful for something. Gives ya something to hold onto in this hell hole." Daryl agreed before they fell into a comfortable silence again.


	27. Chapter 27

**Tomorrow is the season finale! I don't want Season 3 to end. :'( Well here's the next chapter. Thanks for reading, making this a favorite, following. Special thanks to XNatzukoX, VealMaster, and beserkerbeast for reviewing. Makes me smile getting and reading reviews. Let me know what y'all think of this chapter. Have a great day, night, whatever it is where you are. Enjoy! :)**

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Rick and Shane came back later that day, both looked beaten and worn, but the main problem was that Randall returned with them. They placed him in the barn and Rick sought out Daryl once the building was secure. He found the man where he sat up camp only to find the redneck wasn't alone.

The two looked up at Rick's weary face when hearing his approach and no one said anything for a few moments.

"Something up Rick?" Angela asked

"Randall's back, we ran into a few problems while out and we couldn't leave him." Rick explained his voice mirroring how he looked; exhausted.

"So now what do we do with him?" Daryl questioned next.

"That's why I came here. I need you to talk to him. Find out what he knows and what you can get him to tell you about his camp."

"Why me?"

"You know how to get shit done, how to get the answers needed. You proved that back in Atlanta, that's why I'm asking you." Angela wasn't sure what he meant by 'proved yourself in Atlanta', but she agreed with Rick. Daryl was probably the only one who was going to be able to get the answers out of the kid.

"Alright, I'll go first thing in the morning." Daryl said taking in that they were losing light.

"Sounds good, let me know what you find out. Goodnight." Rick said nodding at the two before turning and heading back to the others.

"What did Rick mean you proved yourself back in Atlanta?" Angela asked turning back to Daryl.

"We ran into a group, the Vatos, they took Glenn and we grabbed one of their people. I got the kid to shut up and eventually tell us where his group was so that we could get the chinaman back. Least I think that's what Rick was talkin' about." Daryl explained and Angela laughed a little earning a questioning look from the man.

"Are you ever going to stop calling Glenn chinaman? He's Korean, Daryl."

"The fucks it matter?" Daryl said leaning over to start the fire.

"Just putting myself in his shoes. It would completely piss me off if someone kept calling me something I wasn't."

"Whatever." Daryl shrugged and Angela rolled her eyes.

"Well, it's getting late. I'm gonna go see see if dinner's ready. You comin'?"

"Nah, got my squirrel." He replied pointing to where he kept the squirrels he caught.

"Enjoy your stupid squirrels then, I'm going to have a real meal while we can." Angela said getting up and starting to walk away. She turned at the sound of his voice.

"You're going to try my squirrels one day, gonna be perferin' them over that real meal shit." Daryl said waiving his knife at her.

"Whatever." She said leaving him for the night.

The next morning came too early for everyone's liking. No one knew what to expect with Randall's return and they wouldn't until Rick told them.

Breakfast was a quiet matter. Everyone ate their eggs in silence and once they were done began to clean up. No one wanted to be the first to speak, busying themselves with getting dishes cleaned and put up. When they were done, everyone just stood around the fire waiting anxiously; wanting nothing more than an answer to their questions.

"So what are we doing?" Lori asked breaking the lingering silence.

"I don't know." Rick breathed running a hand down his face.

"Here comes Daryl." Angela noted making every head turn to face the approaching man.

"What did you find out?" Rick questioned.

"Boy's there got a gang of 'bout thirty men. They roll through here, are boys are dead and our women-" his eyes ran over every face, lingering on the Morrison sisters, before returning to Rick. "They're gonna wish they were."

"What did you do?" Carol asked drawing attention to Daryl's bloody knuckles as he adjusted his trusty crossbow.

"Had a chat." He replied walking off. His steps faltered when Rick stated that the boy was a threat and that he had to be killed. After that statement everyone wondered off, except Carol and Angela who lingered by the dying embers.

"Torturing people, that's what Daryl's resorted to?" Carol asked in a shaky voice.

"No, he's still the same Daryl. So he had to hit the kid to get answers, wouldn't you rather know about Randall's group than not be sure what to do?" Angela asked trying to defend Daryl's actions even if she didn't completely agree with them.

"Not like this, not through torturing people." Carol said walking off towards the house.

Angela went to find where Layla had run off too. She walked around the camp seeing T-Dog on guard.

"Hey T, you seen my sister around?" She called up to him.

"Yeah, she was with Carl last I saw just walking around camp. They last headed in that direction, I believe." He said pointing the way the kids had gone.

"Thanks T!" She said with a wave and began walking off.

"Welcome Ange" he said using a nickname she wasn't used to, but didn't mind. the name brought a small smile to her lips. It was nothing like Daryl's nickname for her that made butterflies flutter in her stomach, but it made her feel really accepted to the group. She wasn't just Layla's older sister who joined anymore, but an actual member. Like she belonged.

She came from her thoughts when she saw Carl and Layla looking like they were talking to someone, before they suddenly ran off. A sigh escaped her lips as she walked closer to where the kids once stood only to find Daryl and Carol talking.

"You're a good man Daryl. Tour turning people is not like you." She said handing him some medical supplies for his hand.

"How the hell would you know? Why don't you just stay out of other people's business for once. Did what I had to." Daryl grumbled in return. Carol gave him a disapproving look before storming off. Daryl let out an aggravated sigh as he sat down to patch up his hand.

"Give her a break would ya." Angela stated walking over to him. Daryl turned quickly to look at her.

"Shit didn't know who was there." Daryl stated going back to his hand.

"Did I startle the mighty hunter?" She teased, a smile crossing her face.

"Shut it. Course you didn't." He said as he roughly began to clean his hand.

"Give me that." She said taking the cloth from his hands. She kneeled down in front of him and took his hand in hers and began cleaning the cuts.

"Ya know, why does it seem you're always close by when Carol comes ta talk ta me?" Daryl mused as he watched her work.

"'Cause I get fuckin' jealous seeing some other woman around ya." She joked. "I don't know Daryl, just happens that way."

"Think I liked the jealous bitch excuse best. He said then winced as Angela put too much pressure on his hand. "Fuckin' watch it."

"Sorry." Angela said nonchalantly.

"No yer not." Daryl mumbled.

"Eh your right, but I only did it 'cause you called me a bitch." She said as she began to wrap his hand.

"Ya know I didn' mean it." Daryl said lowly so no one would hear him, though they were the only two there.

"I know, and I know Carol's right. Torturing people's not you Daryl. I get that it was the only way to get answers out of him, and I'm not saying you were wrong to do it."

"Then what are ya sayin'?"

"I'm not really sure. I just want this group to stay safe and if that was what got answers from him than I'll deal with it, accept it I guess, though I'd rather not have to." She had been looking at his hand the entire time she spoke, but she finally looked him in the eyes. "You're a good man Daryl. I trust you with my life." She gave his hand a squeeze and stood up. "Keep your hand wrapped for a while. Till the bleeding stops and I think you'll live." She said with a smile and turned to head in the direction she remembered seeing Layla and Carl run off to.

"Hey." Daryl called causing Angela to turn to look at him. "Thanks."

Angela nodded at him. "Anytime." With that she walked off.


	28. Chapter 28

Angela gave up on finding her sister and Carl. She kept telling herself that they were just running around the farm and that someone was watching them. They had to be okay. That didn't stop her from worrying about it though, so she went to the RV and grabbed a book and went to rest in the shade of a tree that was a ways away from the camp and read, hoping it would keep her mind occupied.

She sat there for several hours escaping the world they lived in to visit a different place; one where the dead didn't walk the earth. The book in general wasn't great in any aspect of the word, but it kept her thoughts at bay.

Looking up from the pages she realized that Daryl had been right, though she'd never out right admit it to him, she did worry too much. Her minded needed the rest from all the troubles that plagued it, with thoughts from the safety of the group, Layla's well being, and just past events that haunted her daily. It was nice to just relax and escape all the troubles this new world caused.

Angela sat for a few moments just watching the scenery before her, when she noticed a lone figure heading her way. Dale. She sent him a smile that he returned when standing before her.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." She replied as he joined her under the tree.

"What are your thoughts on Randall?" Dale asked after sitting silently for a few moments. Angela shrugged.

"Don't really have any. I don't know anything other than he knows Maggie, shot at Rick, Glenn, and Hershel, and what Daryl told us. That's not much to go on honestly."

"Most people in this group agree with Shane. That the boy should be killed."

"And you disagree." Angela stated as she wondered what would really be the right punishment.

"And you don't?" Dale accused.

"Dale, I told you. I don't know what I think. If I knew more about the kid, then maybe I could give you an answer, but I don't. Whatever Rick decides is what I'm going to go with."

"Where's your humanity? You can't just let that kid get killed."

"Dale, I get what you're saying, but what can I do? What can so few do to change others' minds in this world. Things have changed Dale. I'm sorry. I'd I knew more about this kid then maybe I'd side fully with you, but I don't so I can back you up well." Angela explained as calmly as she could.

"Well it's not like you can just go and talk to him, so it doesn't look like you're on my side, or anyone for that matter. Shane, Shane's got this group scared. He's dangerous; he shot you, killed Otis." Dale rambled.

"You don't trust that shitty story either?" Angela questioned.

"No, at least there's people with me in that." Dale said with slight relief.

"Who else doesn't?"

"The only other I'm sure of is Daryl. Which maybe he's right, maybe this group is broken."

"Maybe, I think stress may be slowly pulling us apart. Dale, can you excuse me for while?"

"Sure, but think about this Angela. Please, think about killing Randall. It's not right, not the humane thing to do." Dale pleaded one final time.

"I will Dale." Angela said before walking off heading towards a particular person.


	29. Chapter 29

"Andrea."

The blonde looked over to where she heard the voice to see Angela coming towards her.

"Hey Angela, need something?"

"Want me to take over watch?"

"Dale asked me to-" Andrea started but was cut off by Angela.

"Dale's fine with it, as long as it's not Shane."

"Okay, yeah. I'd like to be off prison duty." Andrea replied after a few seconds. "Got your gun?"

"I've got my knife, it'll be plenty don't worry." Angela stated.

"Alright thanks for taking over." Andrea said walking back to camp. Angela occupied the space the woman had once sat waiting for her to get out of sight.

"Haven't seen you yet." A voice called from inside the barn. Angela turned and peered through the boards to see the kid. Daryl did a number on him.

"Suppose you haven't locked up in there. I'm Angela."

"Randall."

"Nice to meet you. Sorry about Daryl beating you up earlier."

"Yeah he beat me pretty good. Gonna be sore for months, that is, if I live that long. You guys are gonna kill me aren't you?"

"Don't think like that. We don't know what you're doing yet. You've got people fighting for you." Angela actually had sympathy full her voice as she listened to his lost hope.

"Yeah right."

"You do, I promise. Why don't we talk about something else. What did you do before shit hit the fan?" Angela said changing the topic.

"Not much really, lived with my mom and would screw around on the Internet. Went to school and spent time with friends, you know the usual things." He said.

"Heard ya went to school with Maggie."

"Yeah, she didn't know me though. I was invisible to her. She seemed nice though and I know her dad was the vet to a lot of people in town that owned farms. I'd- I'd never hurt them though or any of you." He sad fearing what he would say would sign for his death penalty.

"Didn't think you would. What did you and your friends do for fun around here?"

"Ya know, we went to the movies, played sports, though I wasn't big on sports, and we played video games. That sort of fun." He said a small smile crossing his lips at the memories.

"I did a lot of the same things. Was in one of my college classes when all hell broke loose. First time I saw someone turn." Angela said looking off into the distance as she remembered the horrific event.

"Saw my mom turn and a few of my friends. It was horrible. I- I couldn't put them down, couldn't end it 'cause it just hurt too much ya know." Randall said pulling Angela from her thoughts.

"Yeah I know. I was lucky not to see any friends turn, but I saw my dad as one, he bit my mom. I had to kill both of them, my mom wasn't even dead yet when I killed her. Then my brother got bit and I had to do the same thing. My sister went missing and I stumbled across this group. They saved us both. We wouldn't have made it long just the two of us. I'm sorry about your mom and friends."

"I'm sorry about your family too. I was on my own for a while, just running and scavenging what I could. One day I ran into a few guys looking for supplies and they took me into their group. That's why I was with them, I didn't approve of a lot of the stuff they did, but I didn't want to die or be left alone." Randall explained and Angela could hear the sincerity in his voice. When she looked at him, he could see it in his face as well.

"I believe you. When I found this group I didn't want to leave, everyone needs someone in life. To have their back or just to talk to."

"Is that why you came and spoke to me?" Randall questioned.

"I was asked my opinion on you, what I think should be the final say on what happens to you. I couldn't answer them, just said I'd go with whatever Rick decided."

"Is he the sheriff guy? That kid's dad?"

"Yeah, anyways I came out here to get to know you and to see if I could make my decision. Now I'm glad I did. It seems like you needed someone to talk to."

"Yeah, back in my group we didn't talk much about who we lost. We just made sure to say alive and survive each day. It was nice being able to talk to someone about it, and just get it off my chest. Thanks.

"No problem. It helps to talk, I found that out a few days ago." Angela looked over towards the the house where she could barely make out people filing into the house. It was time for the meeting. "Randall, I enjoyed our talk, but I got to go join the others now." She said standing up.

"Wait, you said you came out here to make a decision, so did you?" Randall called.

"Yeah, I did." Angela said before walking towards the house everyone had disappeared into.

"What was it!? Come on you've gotta tell me!" Could be heard from the barn, but Angela continued down the path.

Coming down to the barn was a good idea after all. She enjoyed talking to someone new even if he did shoot at her group and coming helped make up her mind. She knew which side of this argument she was choosing and she hoped it was for the best.


	30. Chapter 30

Angela made her way up the steps of the farm house, why they didn't come and get her, she didn't understand, but she was glad no one did. They wouldn't have been too happy with her talking to Randall. She could hear that the debate had already begun, Shane and Dale were heard loud and clear, but everything fell silent an all eyes were on her as he entered.

"Where the hell have you been?" Shane practically shouted.

"Was watching Randall, no one bothered to come get me." She retorted from the doorway.

"Angela I'm sorry. I forgot." Andrea said trying to plead her case.

"No worries." She replyed half heartedly.

Looking to her left she saw Lori leaning up against the wall and decided she'd stand by the woman, but in the doorframe conjoining the other room. That's when she noticed Daryl's hard stare. She sent him a small smile he didn't return, before directing her attention to the discussion at hand.

"Look we need to know where everyone stands." Rick stated from the middle of the room.

"Well it's pretty obvious where everyone stands. There's just a small group that stands with me, maybe just me and Glenn." Dale explained and Glenn looked down sadly and guiltily.

"No."

"Look I think you're right pretty much all the time, but he's not one of us." Glenn replied his voice ridden with guilt.

"They've got you scared." Dale accused, then sighed seeing it was a lost cause and looked to Hershel. "What do you think about this? It's your farm."

"I trust Rick with this decision. I don't want him near my girls. I told you this." Hershel responded.

"Isn't there another way?" Maggie chimed in. "Put an escort on him." She suggested.

"Yeah who would want that job?"Shane questioned, irritated with the topic.

"I would!" Dale offered.

"No ones going to be escorting him around." Rick finalized.

"I wouldn't feel safe unless he was locked up somehow." Lori expressed and Andrea was quick to respond.

"We can't exactly put him in chains and sentence him to hard labor."

"If you kill him how would you do it?" Patricia asked from the corner of the room.

"Been thinking about that, I think shooting him would be more humane." Rick explained when Shane brought up hanging him. A few other suggestions were before Dale spoke again.

"You're all talking like this has been decided."

"Been goin' 'round all day, just wanna keep goin' in circles." Daryl said motioning with his hand to make his point and began to pace a little. His eyes landed on Angela for a moment and se looked almost nervous. He thought about placing his hand on her shoulder, but brushed the thought away as soon as it came.

"Look let's say we let him into our group, maybe he's nice, maybe he's helpful." Shane began.

"He is and he would be." Angela responded before she could stop herself.

"How would you know?" He questioned, mistrust shining in his eyes as he glared at her.

"While on guard duty, I spoke to him."

"You spoke to him? What the hell!" Shane exclaimed. "He probably told you nothing but lies about how his group is nice and welcoming. You probably-"

"Would you shut up!" Angela yelled. "Just for one fucking minute, shut up and let me explain." She said calmer and when no one response she took a step from the door frame and continued. "I talked to him about his life before this hell began. He lived with his mom, lived a normal life, spent time with friends. Then the outbreak happened and he watched his family an friends get killed and turned and he couldn't end them." She paused letting the story sink in. "He's just like us, like me and Layla, he was lost and alone and he only joined and stayed with that group so he wouldn't be on his own anymore. To survive."

"Yeah as e could go back and bring his buddies here." Shane argued.

"They were hardly buddies. No one talked much, they weren't close. I highly doubt he'd return to them." Angela stated and Shane just scoffed.

"Alright we have to make a decision." Rick stated after a moment.

"Look, kill him or not just leave me out of it." Carol said from the front door.

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself, it's all the same." Dale said gesturing with his hand.

"Doesn't matter, if she doesn't want to vote she doesn't have to." Rick defended and turned to Angela. "So you're siding with Dale right?"

"Yeah." Angela nodded.

"If he stays, it's just another mouth to feed." Daryl said, Angela turned to find him leaning against the frame she once leaned against.

"Going to be a mean winter." Hershel put out.

"We could ration better." Lori offered.

"Look, I'm just saying don't kill him. I understand if no one wants him around the camp, but killing him is murder. We shouldn't kill the living. The dead are bad enough."

"Rick you once said that same thing. Listen to her." Dale pleaded.

"I just want what's safest for the group." Rick explained taking a deep breath. "Alright, the only way I know how to do this is majority rule. So, everyone for killing him." Rick stated and the answer was obvious even though no one moved. Nobody wanted to be the first to set the death sentence, but the look in their eyes was obvious. Dale though, dale looked defeated.

"Are you going to watch too?" He questioned "don't know how you all are going to sleep tonight with murder going on just a few feet away." He said walking off, but stopped placing a hand on Daryl's shoulder. "You were right, this group is broken."

At that moment, Angela realized as she looked at Daryl and Dale, that statement couldn't have any more truth behind it.


	31. Chapter 31

Dale's words still lingered after he left the house, most likely to go keep watch, and everyone stood silently those words hanging heavily in everyone's mind. Even Shane was deathly silent, which was rare.

Rick cleared his throat gaining all eyes. "Alright, so everyone has made their decision right?" He leaned on the back of the couch and ran his hands down his face. "The decision is we kill him?" He voice was weary and made it known that he wasn't fond of this idea, but would go through with it for the sake of the group, for his family.

Everyone avoided eye contact. A few nodded their heads slightly. The decision was made.

"Alright everyone stay at camp or here at the house, no one get near the shed. Shane, Daryl, I'd like the two of you to come with me." The two men nodded and things were set in motion.

Angela didn't know what to do. She wanted to apologize to Randall and say she was fighting for his side, but at the same time she knew she couldn't handle seeing another death up close. So she stood in the same spot, not knowing how to feel about this decision.

"Hey." Came a low, gruff voice and a nudge to her shoulder. She looked up to see Daryl by her side.

"Hey." She said her voice cracking a bit.

"We need to talk." He said. Angela nodded before following him out and onto the porch. He leaned on the railing and let out a sigh.

"Please say something." Angela whispered after a moment of silence.

"The fuck were you thinkin' Angel? Ya should have stayed away from that kid." Daryl started off almost yelling at her, but quickly lowered the volume of his voice.

"Everyone wanted a decision, I couldn't do that without knowing something about him first. This is a person's life Daryl, it's not that simple to make a decision on that!" A few tears slid down Angela's face as she spoke. "Doesn't look like it mattered anyways, he's still gonna die."

"Why's he matter to ya anyway? Ya didn't know him."

"He's a person Daryl. He watched his family and friends for and has lived with the guilt of not putting them out of their misery. I was the first person he's opened up to about that since shit hit the fan. I feel like I should be there for him at least but I-" Angela paused, her emotions getting the best of her.

She couldn't hold back the tears as she looked over at the tents. No one was paying attention to them, they were all trying to forget what was about to happen. About a rather innocent life soon to be ripped from this world. Angela was so preoccupied with looking at the group and trying to find the words to speak, she didn't realize Daryl stepped closer to her util his strong arms encircled her, pulling her tightly to him.

"This ain't your fault. Ya didn't owe that kid nothin' and ya shouldn't feel guilty. Ya tried your best." He placed an unusually gentle kiss to her head before stepping away. She wiped her tears and gave him a sad smile.

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but I'm still not happy with what's about to happen."

"None of us are, Angel." Daryl said.

They stood there for a moment before the front door opened and Andrea stepped out.

"Hey Angela, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, did you need something?" Angela replied wiping a stray tear from her face.

"I shouldn't have gone against you and Dale, y'all are right. We shouldn't kill the kid and I know it's too late to really make a choice but I had to at least let you know."

"Did you tell Rick?"

"Yeah, he said it was too late to change anything." She said sadly

"Well at least you tried and let him know."

"Yeah Daryl he was looking for you by the way." Andrea said nodding at the two before walking off.

"Gotta go, you alright?"

"Yeah, gonna go find Layla and sit by the fire, or in the tent, or something." Angela said. Daryl nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze, before walking off.

Angela stood on the porch for a minute longer before going back to camp. She sat at the fire for a while with Layla, but the night air was getting to be too much. She slipped off her jacket placing it around Layla and stood up to go grab the other jacket they had in their tent.

She just stepped foot out of the tent, slipping the jacket on when she noticed Daryl walking back to the barn, Randall by his side. Instead of going back to the farm, she ran to them. Daryl heard the footfalls coming towards him and turned to see Layla.

"What's going on?" She asked when she was close enough.

"We're not killin' him." He responded.

"See Randall I told you there were people fightin' for you." She said a small smile gracing her features.

"Carl came in, Rick couldn't do it." Daryl explained. The made it to the barn and he sat down the lantern he had so he could tie up Randall once again.

"Well still, we can't kill him. It's not right." Angela said a and Randall began to try and talk around the gag. "Take that off of him for a moment." Daryl was hesitant, but did as asked.

"Angela? That's you right?" Randall asked in a panicked tone.

"Yep it's me."

"Thanks for caring about me."

"You're welcome. I had to fight for your life. There's too much death as it is." She said and he nodded out of words to say. Daryl replaced the gag and began to check the rope that bound his wrists until a terrified scream rang out.

Angela didn't wait to see what Daryl was going to do, but ran towards the fields. Se found out Daryl was doing the exact same thing as she when he passed her. They neared the source of the screams to see a walker hovering over its next meal. A meal that was putting up a fight.

Daryl tackled the walker to the ground, killing it with his knife. Angela had fresh tears streaming down her face as he kneeled down by the body of a good man, of Dale. Daryl called for the others and soon everyone was there.

They were all debating on what to do, but there really was nothing to be done. The walker tore into his stomach, the only humane thing would be to end him. Andrea sat holding his hand. Angela was too numb to do anything, but hold onto Layla who fell into her arms in tears.

"He's suffering." Andrea stated. Rick was grabbed his gun and sadly aimed it at Dale's head, but he couldn't pull the trigger. He couldn't kill this kind man. Daryl took the gun from Rick and knelt down by Dale's head.

"Sorry brother." He murmured and the shot rang out.


	32. Chapter 32

**Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, writer's block happened and school had been hectic. Trying to write more, and hopefully update more often. **

**Replies to comments on last chapter: (thought I'd give this more of a try)**

**jcd117: Thank you so much. I didn't think my writing would take up someone's day lol Glad you are enjoying it. :)**

**My lovely guest commenter: Thank you for the support! Hope you enjoy this chapter too! **

**Of course I've had quite a few other commenters as well and thank you to everyone that has. It means a lot to me, just for even taking the time to read this. Now onto the chapter, let me know what y'all think! :)**

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Tears stained everyone's faces as they looked down at their lost friend. Silence stretched over them after the gun shot resonated.

Dale was such a sweet soul. All he did was care about the group, knew everyone better than they thought. He was a saint and had a good head on his shoulders that helped the group make the choices needed to survive. Now he was gone, another life snatched from this vile world. The upside to this tragedy, he was most likely reunited with his late wife who he had lost so long ago to cancer long before the world ended.

"Alright, let's head back to camp. Shane, T-Dog we'll need to make a grave. The funeral will be in the morning." Rick said, his voice soft and full of grief.

Everyone slowly began to move, except Angela. She couldn't function, just kept holding on to Layla who buried her face into her neck. She stared at Dale's form laying lifeless on the cold ground until a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Daryl. He gave her shoulder a squeeze as he came down to her level.

"Come on, no use in sittin' here anymore. Head back to camp, get her in bed." His voice was quiet as he spoke.

"He's gone." Angela's voice cracked with those two simple words.

"I know, it'll be alright though. Cryin' ain't gonna bring him back. B'sides you gotta worry bout her. C'mon Angel." He said helping her from her seated position. She adjusted Layla in her arms so she'd be easier to carry.

"Are you coming too?" She questioned and Layla looked over at Daryl too.

"Please Daryl, at least walk us back." The young girl asked.

"Go with them, then you can come help out." T-Dog said nudging Daryl's arm. "We've gotta get things from the house anyways before we can do anything and how can you say no to that face, c'mon man." A small smile pulled at their lips at the light gesture towards Layla.

"Alright let's go." Daryl agreed swinging his arm towards the camp and then they began walking. Angela kept having to adjust Layla in her arms along the way.

"Layla, you're too big for me to carry anymore." She mumbled after the fifth time.

"I know, I'm sorry." The young girl mumbled lightly followed by a yawn. Angela just hugged her tightly in response.

They made it back to camp shortly after much to Angela's pleasure. She was happy to finally tuck Layla into bed and after a quick good night to Daryl she climbed into her own, but sleep wasn't close.

Morning came with barely any sleep, Angela had passed out somewhere during the night, but it was hardly restful. Everyone was gathered around the freshly dug grave. Rick spoke a few words about Dale. Mentioned how Dale said this group was broken, and how they were going to prove him wrong, that they were no longer going to let the group fall apart. For Dale, everyone silently agreed.

"It's going to be a rough winter and with walkers starting to really come on the farm, I want y'all to move into the house." Hershel stated after all was said.

"Thank you, we appreciate that." Rick replied. "We'll start getting things up to move.

"Rick, I'm gonna take Daryl, T-Dog, and Andrea to check the perimeter make sure the fences are secure. Won't take too long." Shane said Rick agreed as everyone walked back towards the house.

Angela was beside Daryl watching Layla walk along side Carl. The two were chatting rather happily considering what has happened.

"Be careful out there okay." Angela stated glancing up at the taller man.

"'Course I will. Don't need ta worry bout me. Just keep yer eye on her." Daryl replied gesturing towards Layla then looking down at Angela slightly.

"I will." Angela said pulling the large coat she wore around her more.

"Where'd the coat come from?" Daryl asked next.

"It was Jamie's, found it in my bag. Guess I grabbed it by mistake when taking things out of my car. We had run out of gas on the outskirts of Atlanta when we lost Layla, that's where he he got bit protecting us. This stupid coat's really all I have left of him." She looked down at the jacket until she felt a hand on her shoulder then she looked up at Daryl's blue eyes.

"Ain't stupid, just big on ya." Daryl said biting his thumb. Angela looked down at herself, at the sleeves that kept falling past her hands and how the jacket went down to almost mid thigh.

"Yeah it is big on me." She laughed. "Jamie was pretty tall."

"Right well, gotta get goin'. Keep the Princess in your sights."

"Now who's worrying."

"Shut it." He said and sharing a look with Angela he walked off towards the waiting group.

Angela went about putting things from her tent in her bag, getting things ready to easily move into the house. She was glad they would no longer have to sleep out side, but to actually have walls surrounding them. It was going to be great.

The small group Shane took to check the fences came back not too long after they left. The small items were all packed away to be moved by the time they returned, all that was left was to take down the tents. Three out of four began to help out; Daryl just began to walk towards his camp. Angela wasn't going to let him go that easily.

"Hey!" She called as she ran to him. He turned and waited. "So did you guys find anything?"

"Couple of walkers, took care of them, but overall the fence is secure. You should get to helpin' them over there."

"They won't miss me for a few minutes. Are you gonna stay out here or come in the house with us?" She questioned shyly.

"Was goin' ta pack my stuff when you stopped me." He replied

"Oh, sorry. I just didn't like the thought of you staying so far away with walkers finding the farm and all-"

"I get it." Daryl interrupted "now get back to work, we can talk later." He stated with a smirk.

"Right, you too. Get to tearin' that tent down and you moving into this house." Angela said with a smile of her own. Daryl made a scoffing noise before walking off.

Angela turned to look back at the group. Everyone was working together on moving things to the house. She noticed a confrontation between Shane and Lori off in the distance, but dismissed it. Maybe Rick was right, maybe they would prove Dale wrong. This group wasn't broken, not anymore at least with everyone trying to fix it, and hopefully it would stay that way.


	33. Chapter 33

**Sorry I haven't updated my story in a while, trying to get better at this. Well here is chapter 33, 34 should be up tomorrow. Hope y'all enjoy.**

**To my lovely commenters: (most of which on chp 32were guests, but that's okay! :D)**

**Guest ("keep up amazing work"): Thank you dear, I shall try.**

**Guest ("Please ma'am, can we have some more?"): Seriously loved your comment. Lol Here is some more to read for you and will have more tomorrow. :)**

**Guest that said they were checking daily and said I was fantastic: Thank you, but I'm really not that great. Also sorry to keep you waiting, I'm working on two different stories right now and I switch between the two and have had some writers block on both. Think I'm over it now though.**

**Swampeyaway: I do plan on writing some sort of season 2 finale, just have to wait to see how it turns out though, I'm not even sure how its going to end yet.**

**jcd117: I think I spent enough chapters of Daryl hiding pretty much all of his feelings so yeah more emotions to come! Glad you are enjoying it. **

**Thank you all for reading and to those who have followed it, etc. means a lot to me! Have loved reading all the comments throughout the story. This particular story is coming close to an end just to let y'all know. I'm planning on a sequel though. Let me know what y'all think and hope you enjoy this chapter! :)**

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Things were running smoothly now. Most of the supplies was packed onto the trucks and being moved inside. Hershel insisted that Rick and his family take his room and he'd take the couch.

Rick pulled Daryl aside after he finished putting his things inside, as close to the Morrison sisters as possible without people questioning anything. They were discussing where they planned to drop Randall off. While they were looking over the map Shane, who had been working on a lookout post instead of getting things moved, came up to them.

"I'm gonna go take a piss." Daryl mumbled, leaving the two to talk.

He walked into the house looking over to the spot further away from the others where he placed his bag noticing that Layla sat on her sleeping bag between his and Angela's belongings, but her sister was no where to be seen. He walked over and sat by the young girl and rummaged on his bag a bit.

"Hey Princess." He said softly. She looked to him and smiled.

"Hi Daryl. Why did you put your stuff by ours? Is it because you like Angie?" The kid was smart, he'd give her that, though he'd never admit it out loud.

"Gotta help her keep you outta trouble is all." He responded ruffling her hair some causing her to lean away and put her hands on head. "Speaking of which, where is she? Thought she wouldn't leave your side."

"She went outside through the back door. She knew I was safe as long as I stay in the house." Layla said hugging her stuffed cat close to her.

"Right, sit tight kid." He said standing up and heading through the kitchen and out the back door.

Once outside again, he looked around him only to find Angela leaning against the house staring off into the distance and away from him. He made his way to her, his footsteps silent against the dirt, until he stood a few steps away.

"The hell are you starin' at?" He asked shattering the silence and causing her to jump.

"Dammit Dixon you scared the shit outta me." She exclaimed with a hand against her chest over her pounding heart. "Thought you were planning with Rick."

"Was, told him I had ta take a piss to give him and Shane some space to talk." He said coming closer to her.

"Ah so now takin' a piss involves talking to me?"

"I had to give some excuse." He replied earning a chuckle from Angela.

"You make us sound like a couple of school kids, coming up with lame excuses to see each other." She said knowing he was just checking up on her and Layla more than giving Rick and Shane space.

"Yeah whatever." Daryl scoffed in return. They glanced at each other before beginning to laugh quietly both looking down at their feet in the end.

"You find your gun yet?" Angela asked knowing it disappeared.

"Nah, don't know where it went to."

"Maybe a walker came and snatched it and we just didn't realize it." She joked.

"Ya have a child's mind Angel."

"Have to have one sometimes to deal with a ten year old. Have to know how to entertain 'em." She replied easily. She walked closer to him and kissed his lips gently. "Be careful out there. I know it's just dropping the kid off somewhere, but ya never know what's going to happen."

"Ya know I'll be fine. Quit worryin' bout me so damn much."

"Ya know I can't help it hick, so deal with it." She said kissing him again, before pulling away completely. "We better get back to everyone before they get worried." She said and they both headed inside.

"Daryl!" Layla called as she saw him pass. He stopped and looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"Come here." She said motioning with her hands. He came over despite his better judgement, only because he didn't want to hurt the kid in any way, and kneeled down in front of her.

"What do ya want Princess?" He questioned.

"I like it when you use my nickname." She said at first then walked closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you for watching out for me and Angie."

Everyone was watching the two now, waiting to see what Daryl would do. Slowly he wrapped an arm around the small girl, slightly hugging her back.

"Ya welcome kid." He replied. She pulled away to kiss his cheek, before giving him another quick hug and walking away to go find Beth, who was finally up and well.

Daryl sat there for a moment, before clearing his throat and turning to leave. He caught Angela's eye as he turned but ignored everyone else's smiles as he met up with Rick to finish discussing the plan.

Rick and Daryl were packing supplies into the truck for Randall, for when they dropped him off. Angela emerged from the house and moved to the passenger side of the truck where Daryl sat down his crossbow in the back.

"Here." She said holding out her gun to him.

"What ya handin' me that for?" He grunted looking from the gun to her eyes.

"You only have so many arrows and your gun is missing, so take mine with you. It's fully loaded."

"Ya need to keep it with ya." He said turning to fix something in the back. Angela didn't budge.

"I've got my bow and if a gun is needed here then there's an extra in the RV for me to use. You're going on a run, you need one more than I do. Please Daryl, take it with you." She begged and finally he took it from her hands and looked down at it.

"Didn't it belong to your ol' man? Thought it was special to ya."

"It is, but that gives you more of a reason to come back safely. I expect you to return it to me." She replied and he met her gaze before someone spoke out.

"Or you can have this one." T-Dog stated holding out another gun to Daryl who took it but still held Angela's in his hand as well.

"This Dale's?" Daryl questioned even though he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, Angela's right, only got so many arrows."

"Yeah, just wish I knew where mine went to." Daryl said placing Dale's gun in the waistband of his jeans.

"I told ya a walker came and stole it, but you just won't listen." Angela joked trying to lighten the mood. She glanced at T-Dog taking in his disbelieving face and the shake of his head.

"Sometimes I think you're completely insane." He laughed before starting to walk to the barn.

"Maybe I am, and maybe I proud of it too!" She yelled to him only to see the wave of his hand as a response.

"Angela can you help keep an eye on things here?" Rick asked coming down the porch steps. Angela nodded.

"Sure thing Rick, just be careful out there okay. Both of you, this group needs you two."

"Don't worry, we drop Randall off and we'll head straight back. We'll be back before night hopefully or at least before it gets too late." Rick reassured looking up at the sky. T-Dog running up caught everyone's attention though.

"Randall's gone."


	34. Chapter 34

**So I completely forgot about this update till just now. Hehe...**

**The guest that reviewed: You're very welcome! :) and there's a very high chance there will be a sequel. I've been wanting to write it before this story was even close to finished. So many plans going through my head for how this story could go.**

**jcd117: glad you enjoyed the last chapter And the fact you said the characters feel so alive makes me feel like I've done a good job at keeping close to how they are in the show as well as going about writing the story. **

**Thanks so much for reading. Now on with the story. **

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Panic broke out as everyone rushed to the barn as fast as their legs would allow. Sure enough, the barn was empty, Randall was on the loose.

"He must've slipped the cuffs." Rick stated after picking up the bloodied hand cuffs.

"Even if he slipped the cuffs, Daryl boarded up that opening up top. He had no way of getting out." Angela noted.

"Yeah well he managed to." Rick retorted.

"The lock was still in place, how could he have gotten out?" T-Dog informed.

"You don't think someone helped him out do you?" Angela asked as she looked around the group, an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Very few knew that lock combination, and no one from our group would have let him out." Rick said beginning to search around, with a few others, for any sign of Randall's miraculous escape. Angela's eyes kept scanning the group, someone was missing besides the few that remained in the house.

"Has anyone seen Shane?" Angela asked and everyone froze. Shane was not with the group when, in reality, he would have been one of the first.

"He was putting boards up earlier. To make a makeshift watch tower." Lori said cautiously, pointing towards the direction Shane had been in with one hand. The other pulled Carl tightly and protectively to her.

"He came to talk to me not too long ago, don't think he went back, but I'm not sure." Rick said placing a hand on his hip and running the other through his hair.

"Rick!" A voice called out catching everyone's attention quickly. They turned towards the voice to see Shane stumbling from the woods with blood running down his face.

"What happened?!" Rick demanded as he stormed over to Shane.

"The lil bastard caught me off guard. He's got my gun." Shane explained. "Ran off into the woods."

"Alright, Daryl, Glenn come with me and Shane. The rest of you stay here ad be prepared in case he comes back." Rick ordered

"Isn't this what we planned, to let him go?" Carol asked.

"Yeah miles from here, not where he knows where we are." Rick answered and everyone began to move.

"Daryl!" Angela exclaimed rather quietly, trying to go unnoticed by anyone else. The fear was evident in her voice as she pulled on his arm stopping him. He grabbed her arm pulling it away from his and placed her gun forcefully in her hand.

"Take this an' get back to the house to yer sister. Keep her safe." He said sternly.

"I... I didn't think Randall would do anything like this. I really don't think he did... I wanna come with y'all."

"No Angel. Get back to yer sister, she needs ya here, I'll be back soon." He began to lean forward but stopped himself, looking down at the girl before him. "Fuck it." He mumbled placing his lips against her forehead and his hand on the back of her head, not caring who saw the display of affection.

He pulled away quickly though and followed Rick and the others into the woods. Angela watched him leave before turning towards the house, he was right, Layla needed her here. She stopped short when she turned and saw the looks she received; T-Dog had a smile fighting its way onto his face despite the situation, Andrea's mouth hung open slightly, Lori's expression was difficult to read, partly disapproving and part happy for her? Not that Angela studied her face or anyone else's long, just quick glances.

"What?" She asked almost positive of the blush covering her face, but didn't wait for an answer as she headed towards the house. T-Dog matched her pace.

"You and Dixon huh?" He teased causing her to blush a bit more.

"Shut up T!" She said quickly her embarrassment evident and only confirming the answer more. T-Dog just laughed in response and patted her shoulder lightly.

The group made it to the house, but that didn't settle their nerves at all. Angela immediately went in and pulled her sister close, and just thought things over. For the longest time just waiting, Layla had managed to doze off while Angela ran her fingers through her hair, so the older Morrison rose from her spot on the floor and headed towards the door.

The cool breeze hit her as she walked out on the porch causing her to pull on the jacket she wore. Jamie's jacket. She missed him, it was weird not having her brother constantly looking out for her, though Daryl was beginning to take that role on was a bit comforting. Jamie was the one she could always rely on, no matter the situation he'd be there to help. She needed him now more than ever, especially since Daryl was off in the woods and the light was quickly fading with the setting sun.

A smile crept onto her face as she thought about Daryl and how she worried about him being out in the surrounding woods. She could easily hear him telling her to 'quit her damn worrying, that he'd be fine', of course he wasn't the only one she feared for. Rick and Glenn had become close to her as well, they were like family to her now and she hated the thought of losing either of them. Shane was a different story, she'd be a bit sad with how it would affect Carl and anyone else close to him, but other than that she'd be okay with losing him. He was nothing but trouble.

Angela wasn't sure how long she stood on the porch thinking, but it was long enough for the sun to completely set and darkness began to loom over the land. As Angela jumped up to sit on the railing and leaned back against the post, a gun shot rang out causing her to jump and then two figures caught her eye. Pulling the gun from the waistband of her jeans, she clutched the weapon close and flipped the safety off.

Her heart was pounding, she was pretty sure the whole farm could hear it, as the figures swiftly made their way to the house. She hopped down from the railing and held the gun up, ready to fire if needed.

"Put the fuckin' gun down!" The familiar southern drawl rang out putting the brunette at ease a bit. She let out a sigh of relief when Glenn and Daryl stepped into the light shining from the porch and appeared unharmed.

"Sorry wasn't sure who was out there. Where's Rick and Shane?" She questioned as they ascended the stairs.

"They ain't back yet?" Daryl asked unbelieving. Angela merely shook her head and followed him into the house, Glenn on their heels.

"Daryl, Glenn you're back!" Layla exclaimed running up to them and stopping by Daryl and Angela's side.

"Yeah, y'all sure Rick an' Shane ain't back yet?" Daryl asked.

"Why aren't they with you?" Lori questioned with worry evident in every syllable.

"We split up to cover more ground." Glenn explained from his spot beside Maggie.

"We heard a gun shot, maybe they found Randall." T-Dog said and Daryl shook his head.

"Nah we found him."

"Is he back in the barn?" Maggie asked.

"He was a walker only this is he wasn't bit, he had his neck broke." Daryl explained. Everyone was quiet for a moment until Lori crossed the room and placed her hand on Daryl's arm.

"Please, will you go out there and find them?"

"Yeah." Daryl said with a nod and turned to go out the door. He caught Angela's eye as she pulled Layla close and as he passed he placed a hand on her shoulder giving it a light squeeze.

Most followed Daryl and Glenn out the door to see him off and to see if they could spot the two missing people. Angela watched them leave the house but remained where she stood. At least she did until she heard Hershel tell Patricia to turn off the lights.

"Layla stay here, I'll be right back." She said as she went outside and made her way to stand by Daryl and see what everyone was looking at. The sight shocked her, hundreds of shadowy figures could be seen stumbling from the dark woods. It was terrifying to say the least. The sight would strike fear into even the bravest of souls. These were no mere shadows in the dark, these daunting figures were the groups worst nightmare. Walkers.


	35. Chapter 35

**Okay so close to the end. I had so much typed here and it got deleted which kinda sucks. Thank you everyone who has read my story it means so much. I appreciate every single read this story gets.**

**Comments! :D**

**SeverusSnape'sLove: First off love the name. Severus was one of my favorite characters in Harry Potter, so complex and amazing. Rowling did a fabulous job with his character and Rickman did an awesome job playing him in the movies. Merle won't be introduced in this story, if I write a sequel he will be in that. i have something sport of planned out if I do get that far. Well see where it goes when the time comes. Thanks for reading.**

**My lovely guest: i am seriously considering continuing. I love writing this Not sure if I want it to end yet. :)**

**Xxnikkiigirl123xX: Thanks so much for reading! **

**jcd117: Glad it got your heart pounding, makes me feel accomplished lol hope this is just as good :)**

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"What do we do?" Someone asked quietly, but urgently.

"Do we hide in the house, wait for them to pass?" Glenn questioned trying to think of a plan.

"Unless there's a underground tunnel or somethin' I don't know about, herd that size will rip the house down." Daryl stated looking out at the herd.

"I can't find Carl." Lori stated as she emerged quickly from the house. Andrea followed her carrying the bag of guns.

"He was just inside." Carol stated worryingly.

"He was upstairs earlier, but now he's gone." Lori continued near tears.

"Is Layla-" Angela began, but Lori cut her off.

"She's in the living room."

"You guys, what do we do about the walkers?" Glenn questioned bringing everyone's attention away from the missing boy.

"Fight them off as long as we can." Andrea stated going through the gun bag along with a few others.

"We can take the cars and if all else fails we drive off." T-Dog said loading his gun.

"I'm not leaving without my boy." Lori stated leaving no room for arguing.

"We'll find him." Carol said reassuringly.

"I'm not leaving." Hershel explained.

"You sure?" Daryl questioned.

"This is my farm and I'll die here." Hershel stated loading his shotgun to prepare for the oncoming enemy.

"Tonight's as good as any." Daryl shrugged sitting on the railing to easily jump off the porch.

"Daryl!" Angela said grabbing his arm before he could leave. Panic rising and evident in her voice as he met her eyes.

"Stay here, keep yer sister safe." He said trying to take his arm away, but Angela wouldn't let go. "Angel." He said annoyed, but sternly.

"Shut up hick." She said pressing her lips to his. He was uncomfortable knowing that everyone was watching, but kissed her back since this could be the last time he could ever share a kiss with her. She pulled away and looked into his eyes. "Don't fuckin' die out there. Be careful." She said sternly though the worry seeped through at the end.

"Don't worry, will be." He murmured and with one last nod he jumped off the porch. He grabbed Dale's gun from the truck and went to his motorcycle, revving the engine before driving off towards the herd followed by the others.

Lori shouted out for Carl, frantically looking out over the land in hopes of spotting him. Patricia and Beth went into the house to gather food and other supplies to pack into the cars in case they had to abandon all hope for this farm, abandon their home to the living dead. They'd rather leave their home behind than lose their lives so the heartless, mindless corpses that roam the land, so they packed in light of a brighter day, to survive another night of total chaos.

"Maybe he went after Rick." Carol offered as she approached Lori.

"Why can't he ever listen." Lori said going into the house. Carol and Angela followed.

"Angie, what's going on?" Layla asked rising from the couch and following after Angela to their belongings.

"We've got to pack Princess. Hurry get your things into a bag okay." Angela said trying to stay calm for the young girl.

"But why, I thought we were safe here for the most part. Why can't we just defend the farm?" Layla argued.

"Layla just start packing!" Angela snapped, turning to see tears in her sister's eyes and that she physically flinched back at the words. "Princess I'm sorry, there's just so many, we're trying to stay here, but we're packing just in case." Angela said pulling her sister into a tight hug.

"I don't want to leave." Layla muttered into Angela's shoulder.

"I know, but we just have to adapt, go with what will keep us alive and I know you're going to be my strong little sister, right?" Layla pulled away and wiped at her eyes as she gave Angela a nod. "Good, now start packing your things okay?"

The two sisters got to work packing. Once Angela had all her belongings together she helped the other women collect good and get it out to Hershel's car.

It was amazing, but terrifying how close the walkers were getting. Gunfire could be heard for miles as the group drove around firing off round after round. They barely made a dent in the numbers. It was a sea of walkers and the group was struggling to survive and keep this safe place they had come to enjoy. It was the first time they truly felt safe in a long while since the world went to shit and now, just like everything else they lost, this safety was being ripped from them too.

The women taking food to the car ran back inside to make sure they gathered up all the food and other necessary supplies they could. Once they were sure about all other rooms they gathered in the living room, eyes raking over everything. Lori was still worried about her family, her son, though no one could blame her. She turned to Layla who opened her bag to place her stuffed cat in it to keep it safe from the monsters and from getting lost.

"Layla, you're sure you didn't see Carl leave the house at all?" She questioned the young girl.

"I'm sorry Lori, I didn't see him." She replied sadly slipping her bag onto her shoulders.

"He's probably with Rick." Carol said trying to comfort the worried mother.

"Yeah, maybe they're the ones who started the fire." Patricia offered as she noticed their barn was burning and surrounded by walkers.

"We'll find out later, right now we have to leave." Angela said placing her bag on her back and throwing Daryl's over her shoulder. Taking Layla's hand in hers, everyone filed out of the house.

"Layla stay close to me." Angela said as they all flew off the porch. Lori called for Hershel, but he was too busy firing his shotgun trying his hardest to save his home.

"Lori go, I'll get Hershel!" Angela said pulling Layla along towards the determined man. She let go of Layla's hand to pull out her gun and shoot a few nearing walkers and glancing to make sure her sister was near her turned towards him again, adjusting the bag on her shoulder as she did so. "Come on Hershel, we've got to go! Maybe we can return, hopefully the walkers will clear out and we can come back, but now we've got to go!" She pleaded.

"This is my farm!" He cried at her she could see the sadness in his eyes as he looked at her, could see the defeat he felt.

"I know, and I'm so sorry, but your girls need you, we all do, so please Hershel. We've gotta go!" Angela begged hoping he would come for his daughters.

He lowered his gun slowly looking out at his land, at the burning farm, and the herd of living dead that littered the ground and continued to approach. He let out a sigh as he nodded his head, before he could say anything a shot fired behind them.

The two turned to see a walker, that had gotten extremely close to them, fall dead to the ground. Not far off from the body was Rick holding his gun and Carl beside him. The father and son approached the others quickly.

"Hershel, Angela we've gotta go!" Rick stated.

"This is my home and its gone." Hershel replied.

"Have you two seen Lori?"

"I told her to go with Carol and the others, she should be off the farm by now." Angela replied. Rick looked distraught, but nodded.

"Alright let's go."

The four began taking steps towards Hershel's car to leave the car. Angela glanced behind her to make sure Layla was keeping up only to find that she was gone. She stopped abruptly, eyes scanning their surroundings frantically much like Lori had done earlier that night when Carl disappeared.

"Layla!" Angela screamed tears stinging her eyes. Walkers were closing in on them, they didn't have much time left before there was no longer any chance of escape. "Layla!" She yelled again, she turned to the others the tears not yet falling. She refused to let them fall, Layla was still alive, she had to be.

"She was just here. She was right here!" She cried. Hershel gave her a sympathetic look understanding her pain. Rick stepped forward till he stood next to her.

"We can't stay here, there's too many walkers, we've gotta go. I'm sorry." He said trying to get the brunette to follow, but she refused.

"She's my baby sister, I can't leave her!" She argued.

"Angie!" A shrill scream sounded. It was Layla, but she couldn't be seen. There were too many walkers where her voice sounded from by the house.

Another panicked scream left the young girl's lips and Angela began to run towards the group of walkers. She knew it was suicide, but she had to try for Layla. She was stopped before she could get close to the walkers by a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. Rick stopped her and began pulling her towards the car.

"No! Let me go! I have to help her! Let me go!" She struggled against his grip, but he didn't let go, he wasn't going to let her get herself killed.

"I'm sorry there's nothing we can do!" He argued back. Tears were streaming down Angela's face long before they reached the car. Rick helped her into the back seat with Hershel before climbing into the driver's side and leaving the farm.

Angela and Hershel both couldn't take their eyes off the place. It was for two different reasons, but both had just lost something that meant the world to them and it was hard for them to see it disappear into the distance.


	36. Chapter 36

**Only one more chapter after this. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, making this a favorite. It means so much to me that y'all read and all the awesome reviews I've received has made writing this even better. I love reading what y'all have to say about my take on this awesome show. Thanks so much. I realize I probably overrated this story, it's most likely not an M rating, but oh well. Don't know why I brought that to attention, but I did. Anyways comment time! :)**

**My lovely guest: Thank you for reading. So glad you're enjoying this.**

**jcd117: I hated making Layla disappear, but it just had to be done. It just added more drama and heartbreak to the story. **

**SeverusSnape'sLove: Maybe someone did, maybe they didn't. We may never know. Thanks for reading. :)**

** : Thanks for reading and I know Layla. It's so sad.**

**Also had another guest (chanel I believe) comment telling me that they wish most top selling books were this interesting and that I was insanely talented. Thank you so much. I honestly don't think my writing is that fantastic, I just write because I enjoy it. I know there are a ton of mistakes in this, but I liked being able to share this with yall. So glad you've enjoyed. **

**Now on to the story :)**

* * *

Angela didn't know how long they had been driving nor could she remember if Rick had told them where they were headed. She couldn't focus. She felt lightheaded.

The tears that had cascaded down her cheeks had slowed dramatically during the drive leaving her eyes red and puffy and her face wasn't the prettiest sight to see at the moment. She felt rather numb from all the emotions flowing through her.

This was worse than when Dale died, worse then her brother or parents dying to protect her. Layla was gone. Torn apart by those monstrous corpses and there was nothing she could do. She couldn't change the fact that she had just lost the last of her family to this cruel new world. She couldn't keep her safe, couldn't bring her back, there was nothing left. Even Daryl was missing along with the rest of the group.

"Angela." A soft voice said and a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked over at Hershel who was trying to give her some sort of comfort even though he had just lost everything too. When she looked up at him she noticed the world wasn't flying past them anymore, they had stopped driving.

With a quick glance at Carl, Angela's eyes landed on Rick. She didn't know how to feel towards him; he stopped her from going to help Layla, but he also saved her from losing her life. She didn't know if she should thank him or hate him.

He held her gaze for a moment before motioning for them to all get out. Angela opened her door, but only sat there with her legs out not feeling quite strong enough to get out of the car, physically and mentally. Her head was still spinning and all she wanted to do was curl up and forget the world.

"We'll wait here for a bit, just to see if anyone else thinks to meet up here." Rick said looking around.

"If they even made it off the farm." Angela muttered, her voice was hoarse from screaming and crying, but she was still heard.

"They made it off that farm, they had to." Rick stated harshly as he walked over to Angela. Their eyes met, her's dull and lifeless, his was held more panic than anything. "They wouldn't have stayed long with all the walkers, you should have more hope."

Angela didn't respond, she just stared at him a bit longer before letting her eyes fall on a certain car behind him. The car held some food on it and on the windshield was a message; "Sophia stay here we will come every day". Sophia was gone, Layla was gone, all because of this new world they lived in. Was there really any reason to have hope anymore?

Rick walked away from her and back to Carl who was worried about his mom. Hershel worried about his girls, but knew Rick's only task was to keep his son safe, but he didn't press the subject.

They sat there on the highway for a while with no one showing up. Angela closed the door on the car most of the way and laid down on the backseat. She heard Rick hiss at her that there was a walker and to stay still and quiet. There wasn't much worry there, she didn't really feel like moving. She took notice that instead of killing the walker they just shuffled around the car as it passed. It was at this time that Hershel told Rick to go. That his only worry was keeping Carl alive.

"What about you, your girls?" Rick questioned. Angela sat up in her seat to see that the walker was a ways away.

"I'll hide out in one of the cars as long as I can. You just need to focus on keeping him alive. I've lost my farm, my girls are missing, I've got nothing left to lose, but you have him, your son. You take him and Angela and go, I'll be fine."

Rick stared at him for a moment in disbelief, but before he could respond verbally a loud rumbling sound interrupted him. It was just any noise though, it was the sound of a motorcycle. Daryl was alive.

The bike came into view, but wasn't alone. On the back behind Daryl sat Carol, and driving behind them was the Subaru Shane fixed and the truck both of which had been driving around the farm.

The cars pulled through the grass separating the two roads of the highway. People started piling out of the vehicles as soon as they stopped. Lori started crying as she pulled her son tightly to her. Hershel pulled his girls to him as well as greetings were said. Everyone was relieved that so many survived the living nightmare they endured throughout the night.

"How'd you all meet up?" Rick questioned as he shook Daryl's hand in a grateful manner.

"Saw this one's taillights zigzagging all over the road, figured he had to be Asian." Daryl joked.

"Nice one." Glenn said with a small smirk on his lips.

"Where's Patricia?" Hershel questioned.

"She was pulled right from me daddy." Beth said sadly causing Hershel to hug her even tighter. "Jimmy?" She asked

"He was in the RV. It got overrun." Rick informed.

"Andrea?" Maggie asked.

"She was trying to save me and ten I lost her." Carol explained.

"We saw her go down, don't know if she got back up or not." T-Dog told.

"Someone should go back and check."

"No, she's either dead or left. We can't risk any more lives." Rick ordered.

"Where's Angela an' Layla?" Daryl questioned. Rick looked down, but Hershel anwered.

"Angela's in the backseat of the car, but Layla didn't make it."

Daryl left his bike and walked over towards the car. The first thing he saw was the back door of the car open on the side away from the group, but when he looked in the car he found it to be empty.

"Thought you said she was here?" He said looking over towards Hershel from around the car.

"She was." Rick answered.

Daryl walked back towards the group.

"We gotta find her. Also gotta get off the road or we'll run into more assholes like this. I got him." He said grabbing his crossbow off the motorcycle and shooting an arrow through an oncoming walker's head. As the walker fell it had everyone's eyes and that's when someone noticed a figure walking away.

"That's Angela." Glenn said pointing at the retreating form. He placed his hands by his mouth. "Angela!" He called out, but she didn't turn, didn't give any form of acknowledgment. She just kept walking.

"I'll get her." Daryl mumbled walking past everyone and towards the only Morrison left that they knew with his crossbow in hand.

"The hell you think yer goin'?" He asked once he was near her and grabbed her arm to make her look at him.

He took in her appearance. The tear tracks that stained her cheeks. The redness of her face that still lingered on her skin from being so upset as they left the farm, but mostly he notice her eyes. They had lost the life and determination they once held. Now they were dull like there was nothing left to live for.

He hated seeing her this way; so broken and vulnerable. He wanted her to be happy again, but he didn't know how to help. He knew the loss of her sister crushed her, he knew the feeling too well.

"She's gone." Angela croaked looking up at Daryl. She was happy he was alive and well, but she just didn't know what to do. She wanted her sister, her family. She held so much hate for this world, but knew hating everything wouldn't bring them back, she knew there was no way to get them back and it killed her.

"I know Angel, but ya can't give up. Gotta stay strong and kick some walker ass." Daryl said trying to comfort her.

"Why? Everything's gone."

"Ya got people who care about ya. We're yer family now." Daryl explained gesturing towards the group. "We'll get trough this shit."

She took a step closer to him placing her head against his chest and gripping the vest he wore in her hands. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her as she cried, well aware of the eyes on them.

After a moment Angela's sobs quieted much to Daryl's relief. He let his hand slide up and down her back a few times to comfort her before tightening his grip on her, hugging her close. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he thought he'd never see her again. Thought that kiss on the farm house porch would very well be their last, but here she was. She was broken, but very much alive, and she was his.

His grip on her loosened greatly causing her to glance up into his blue eyes that held nothing but understanding and care.

"C'mon we can't stay here. Let's get back to the group and get the hell outta here b'fore that herd finds us." He said softly. Angela nodded, sniffing loudly, and heading with Daryl towards the group.

"We'll drive down the road aways. See what we find." Rick said once they were all gathered. "Honk once quickly if something's up. Daryl you lead the way, I'll bring up the rear."

Everyone nodded and agreed before heading to vehicles. Carol approached Angela, wrapping her tightly in her arms. Angela hardly hugged back.

"I'm so sorry dear." Carol said softly and mother like. Angela didn't give much of a response, just a light shake of we head and Carol let her go.

"Angel." Daryl called out and the two women looked his way. "Ya ridin' with me." He stated more then asked. Angela didn't argue though just nodded and walked to the bike as he started it up and Carol climbed into another car. Once the bike was started and Angela was seated behind Daryl with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, they took off down the road.

They drove for sometime on the long deserted road. The motorcycle wasn't the most comfortable to ride on for so long, but Angela was able to look past that because of the feeling of the wind flying past her face was relaxing even with her hair slapping against the skin on her face.

A loud, short honk from the rear of the line stopped everyone in their tracks. It came from the truck Rick was driving, something was up. Turns out they ran out of gas and had been running on fumes far too long.

Rick shot down Maggie and Glenn's offer to run up the road to the gas station to get supplies. He claimed the group needed to stick together and no one needed to wonder off. Angela listened as the plan to stay in this spot till morning was made from her perch on the railing that kept cars from going down into the ditch beside the road. Nothing interested her, she didn't care what happened, what they did. It didn't matter to her whatsoever.

The group stayed off the road, finding a small building structure that still had a few walls standing, but was never completely finished being built. Night fell fast for the group and everyone was on edge.

T-Dog stood guard atop one of the walls, gun in hand, when a noise sounded in the darkness.

"What was that?" Several questioned, most began rising to their feet.

"It sounded like it came from over there." Maggie said pointing off into the shadows of the trees and away from the highway. The fear and uneasiness was clear in her voice as she spoke.

"We can't stay here." Beth said staying close to her father's side.

"Everyone just stay calm, no one's going anywhere." Rick said trying to calm the frantic group.

"Do something." Carol told Rick when panic was rising in everyone. Afraid the horde of walkers was going to come like thieves in the night to take something else from them.

"I am doing something. I always have been since I came into this group. I have been trying to keep this group alive and together." Rick began sternly looking at each member of the group. "I killed my best friend for you people."

That was a shock. Carl buried his face into his mother's shoulder as sobs shook his form. Lori's eyes were wide like everyone else's, but a single tear fell down her face as she hugged her son close.

"Don't look at me like that. You all saw what he was like. He was losing his mind to this world, all he wanted was control of the group, power. He'd take out anyone he didn't like or thought was weak if he had too. Just look at Angela, he shot her, but it wasn't fully an accident. He wanted to kill her because he didn't trust her. The only reason he didn't was because of Layla, he couldn't hurt a kid, so he decided against it, but still pulled the trigger. He killed Ptis, he tried to kill me, I had no choice. He let Randall go to get me out in the woods alone. I had no choice it was either kill him or be killed myself. I had no choice."

He let his words sink in for a moment before continuing.

"Leave if you want, see how far you get, but know if you stay this isn't a democracy anymore. Any takers?" He questioned to see if anyone would walk away. When no one moved he nodded. "Looks like we're all in agreement then. Rest up, we'll leave at first light to get gas and move out." He said before walking around the area again.

Carol looked at Daryl as he kneeled beside her to place a few more sticks into the fire.

"You should stand up and take the lead." Daryl looked at her briefly before returning his attention to the fire.

"Rick knows what he's doin'." He replied.

"Not a democracy anymore? That's crazy." She argued.

"He's kept us alive this long. Need ta trust him more, knows what he's doin'." Daryl repeated.

"Whatever you say." She stated then glance over at the wall where Angela was sitting, but she wasn't there. "Where's Angela?"

Daryl's head snapped in the direction of the same wall Carol looked at. Sure enough the brunette was missing.

"Shit."


	37. Chapter 37

**Going to reply to my lovely reviews from last chapter: **

**FreedomWriter15: I'm sorry dear. I can't promise they'll find her or that she'll be safe. I honestly hate it too I don't know how writers just kill people off like they do. I dread it every time I go to write a death of a character. :( Thank you for reading.**

**jcd117: Angela is going through a rough time right now, much to Daryl's dismay. Daryl goes to look for her this chapter, but if he finds her or not and how, you'll have to read to find out. Thanks for reading. :)**

**SeverusSnape'sLove: Yeah she's keeping Daryl busy alright. Causing quite a few problems. Thanks for reading and here is the next chapter for ya. **

**Now onto the story! )**

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Daryl rose from his crouch by the fire and walked over to where Angela had once sat. Her bag was still sitting there along with the blanket he gave her from the car since the night became quite cold with frigid winds blowing ever so often. The one thing he did notice was that her father's gun was missing only meaning that she was armed.

He noticed her footsteps in the dirt by the wall where she stood an walked to the end of the structure, but from there the glow from the fire could no longer provide him with enough light to see the tracks. He grabbed her bag in hopes of finding a flashlight stored among the belongings and was in luck that one was placed towards the top.

Grabbing the light, he shined it on the ground to see which way the brunette wandered. She stayed by the wall and to the shadows before it looked like she headed away from the group entirely. The only place he could have thought she would go is into the woods.

"What's going on?" Ricks voice questioned from behind him. Daryl turned to face the man.

"Angela walked off. I'm gonna follow her tracks and get her ta come back."

"Take someone else with you." Rick said but Daryl shook his head.

"Be better if I went alone, can find her and talk some sense into her." Daryl explained. Rick didn't argue, only gave Daryl a nod.

"Alright, don't be too long. Got an early start tomorrow and don't need you running around the woods all night."

Daryl nodded and after going to grab his crossbow, he followed the trail again.

Angela's tracks led Daryl deep into the forest. He didn't know when she had left or how she managed to leave without anyone noticing, but she made it far. He understood how upset she was with the loss of her sister, but she shouldn't wonder off, all it did was give Daryl an extremely bad feeling.

As he continued to follow her trail, soon he didn't need to look so closely for the tracks. A few walkers met up with her and each on met their ends.

"Damn girl can protect herself at least." He muttered crouching down to look at how the walkers had been killed. A clean slice right into the brain; she had a knife on her for silent kills. The other two weren't killed as clean, the resembled that one she killed in the church that she stabbed more than needed. Still they were dead and her body wasn't among them so there was still hope.

As he left the walker bodies behind him a slight movement by the trunk of a tree caught his eye. He placed the flashlight in his mouth and raised his crossbow. Carefully he moved silently around the tree with his crossbow aimed ready to shoot if necessary.

The sight wasn't something he expected and had hoped to never see. It wasn't a walker of any sorts, it was Angela. Blood was splattered on her clothes, whether it was walker blood or her's, he couldn't tell. She had her eyes shut tightly and clutched her father's gun in her shaking hands tightly, the barrel was pressed against her head.

"The hell are ya doin'?" Daryl shouted after taking the flashlight out of his mouth, making her jump and look up at him.

"What does it look like?" She questioned just loud enough for him to hear. Her voice was void of any emotion.

"Damn it Angel, ya can't do this. Ya can't give up just 'cause ya lost Layla. She wouldn't want ya to."

"It just wasn't Layla, I lost my entire family! My parents, my brother, now Layla. I've lost everything, I don't want to continue living when they're gone." Tears slipped down her cheeks as she spoke.

"Ya haven't lost everything. Ya still got an entire group lookin' after ya, carin'. Haven't they been hurt enough right now? They don't need ta lose another 'cause you wanna kill yourself."

"Opting out."

"What?" Daryl asked at her two words.

"Isn't that what you called suicide a while back when we were searching for Sophia? I'm opting out Daryl, I choosing to leave this world because I want to be with my family again. I'm tired, physically, emotionally. I want to rest peacefully again, not have to have one eye open fearing a walker might come and I can, all I have to do is end it."

"Ya act like there's no one carin' 'bout ya." Daryl said unable to believe the words leaving her lips.

"The group will be better without me, one less mouth to feed, one less person to worry about." She said looking down at her hands.

"The group need ya Angel, yer a damn good shot and yer willing to help out to protect everyone." Daryl said trying to find reasons for her to stay. Angela rose to her feet and walked towards him and away from the tree.

"Ricky's taking complete control of the group, even if I offer to do something it could be completely shot down. I don't want someone controlling my every move and decision. Everyone will be fine without me, they don't need me around." She said turning away from him.

"Yer wrong. They do need ya. I need ya." That stopped her.

"Why? Why do you care so much about me?" She said turning to face him again.

"Ya think I would kiss ya for no reason? I ain't one of those guys who just sleeps 'round or kisses girls for the hell of it. I don't know what it is 'bout ya; maybe it's the fact ya were so damn annoyin' and wouldn't leave me alone, but, dammit, ya managed ta get me to care." Daryl said walking closer to her. Every step he took she stepped back until she was against the tree.

"I get that ya lost everyone close to ya, and it hurts, but never pegged you for a quitter. Never thought you'd give up just 'cause ya got hurt. Yer not the only one who lost family to this shitty world, ya know."

"Daryl-"

"Shut it. I thought this hell would only get worse, then yer sister came and I had to save her, then you came. I ain't good at this relationship, emotions shit, but ya can't opt out 'cause ya can't make someone's hell better just to give up."

Daryl didn't know what to really say anymore as he watched the realization flash in her tear filled eyes. She realized that it wasn't the group he was worried about if she ended it, it was himself. He really did start to care for her and though it bothered him he was determined to keep her alive and safe and try to make their relationship work in the hell they lived in. She realized that maybe she should hold on to life for a little longer. She told Layla that's what she needed to do, now maybe it was time to take her own advice.

When she didn't say anything after a few moments, Daryl dropped his crossbow to the ground, placing his hands on Angela's face and pressing his lips to her's roughly. He didn't know exactly if he really loved her, but knew he wouldn't feel this way with anyone else. So he planned on showing her just how much he cared about her since he couldn't put it into words.

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**Well this is it, but good news does come with this ending. I am going to write a sequel. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, making this a favorite and just sticking with this story and the incredible wait times I had between some chapters. I have really enjoyed writing this fic and just don't want it to end. Now I can't wait to start the sequel. :) Thanks so much for reading and I'll try to have the sequel up soon. It's going to pick up a few months later probably, not 100% sure yet. Let me know what y'all thought about my take on this awesome show. Much love to y'all.**


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